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Florida Senate
-
2026
SB 742
By
Senator Rodriguez
40-00439-26 2026742__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to nursing licensure; amending s.
3 464.019, F.S.; revising information that the Board of
4 Nursing must publish on its website with respect to
5 approved nursing education programs; revising graduate
6 passage rate requirements for approved nursing
7 education programs; creating s. 464.0125, F.S.;
8 providing for provisional licensure of registered
9 nurses and licensed practical nurses; specifying
10 requirements for such provisional licensure; providing
11 that provisional licenses are not renewable;
12 specifying circumstances under which a provisional
13 license becomes void; prohibiting applicants for
14 provisional licensure from practicing until the
15 provisional license is issued; establishing that
16 provisional licensees may practice only under direct
17 supervision of a registered nurse or licensed
18 practical nurse, as applicable; specifying
19 requirements for such supervision; requiring the Board
20 of Nursing to, by a specified date, submit a formal
21 request to National Council of State Boards of Nursing
22 to offer the nursing licensing examination and its
23 test preparation materials in Spanish by a specified
24 date; providing an effective date.
25
26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
27
28 Section 1. Subsection (4) and paragraph (a) of subsection
29 (5) of section 464.019, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
30 464.019 Approval of nursing education programs.—
31 (4) INTERNET WEBSITE.—The board shall publish the following
32 information on its Internet website:
33 (a) A list of each accredited program conducted in the
34 state and the program’s graduate passage rates for the most
35 recent 2 calendar years, which the department shall determine
36 through the following sources:
37 1. For a program’s accreditation status, the specialized
38 accrediting agencies that are nationally recognized by the
39 United States Secretary of Education to accredit nursing
40 education programs.
41 2. For a program’s graduate passage rates, the contract
42 testing service of the National Council of State Boards of
43 Nursing.
44 (b) The following data for each approved program, which
45 includes, to the extent applicable:
46 1. All documentation provided by the program in its program
47 application.
48 2. The summary description of the program’s compliance
49 submitted under subsection (3).
50 3. The program’s accreditation status, including
51 identification of the accrediting agency.
52 4. The program’s probationary status.
53 5. The program’s graduate passage rates
for first-, second
54
, and third-time test takers
for the most recent 2 calendar
55 years.
56 6. Each program’s retention rates for students tracked from
57 program entry to graduation.
58 (c) The average passage rates for United States educated,
59
first-, second-, and third-time
first-time
test takers on the
60 National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensing
61 Examination for the most recent 2 calendar years, as calculated
62 by the contract testing service of the National Council of State
63 Boards of Nursing. The average passage rates shall be published
64 separately for each type of comparable degree program listed in
65 subparagraph (5)(a)1.
66
67 The information required to be published under this subsection
68 shall be made available in a manner that allows interactive
69 searches and comparisons of individual programs selected by the
70 website user. The board shall update the Internet website at
71 least quarterly with the available information.
72 (5) ACCOUNTABILITY.—
73 (a)1. An approved program must achieve a graduate passage
74 rate for
first-, second-, and third-time
first-time
test takers
75 which is not more than 10 percentage points lower than the
76 average passage rate during the same calendar year for graduates
77 of comparable degree programs who are United States educated,
78
first-, second-, and third-time
first-time
test takers on the
79 National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensing
80 Examination, as calculated by the contract testing service of
81 the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. For purposes of
82 this subparagraph, an approved program is comparable to all
83 degree programs of the same program type from among the
84 following program types:
85 a. Professional nursing education programs that terminate
86 in a bachelor’s degree.
87 b. Professional nursing education programs that terminate
88 in an associate degree.
89 c. Professional nursing education programs that terminate
90 in a diploma.
91 d. Practical nursing education programs.
92 2. If an approved program’s graduate passage rates do not
93 equal or exceed the required passage rates for 2 consecutive
94 calendar years, the board shall place the program on
95 probationary status pursuant to chapter 120 and the program
96 director shall appear before the board to present a plan for
97 remediation, which shall include specific benchmarks to identify
98 progress toward a graduate passage rate goal. The program must
99 remain on probationary status until it achieves a graduate
100 passage rate that equals or exceeds the required passage rate
101 for any 1 calendar year. The board shall deny a program
102 application for a new prelicensure nursing education program
103 submitted by an educational institution if the institution has
104 an existing program that is already on probationary status.
105 3. Upon the program’s achievement of a graduate passage
106 rate that equals or exceeds the required passage rate, the
107 board, at its next regularly scheduled meeting following release
108 of the program’s graduate passage rate by the National Council
109 of State Boards of Nursing, shall remove the program’s
110 probationary status. If the program, during the 2 calendar years
111 following its placement on probationary status, does not achieve
112 the required passage rate for any 1 calendar year, the board may
113 extend the program’s probationary status for 1 additional year,
114 provided the program has demonstrated adequate progress toward
115 the graduate passage rate goal by meeting a majority of the
116 benchmarks established in the remediation plan. If the program
117 is not granted the 1-year extension or fails to achieve the
118 required passage rate by the end of such extension, the board
119 shall terminate the program pursuant to chapter 120.
120 Section 2. Section 464.0125, Florida Statutes, is created
121 to read:
122
464.0125 Pro
visional licenses
.—
123
(1)
The
department
shall issue a provisional
license to
124
practice as a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse to
an
125
applicant who meets
all of
the following
criteria
:
126
(a)
Has submitted a completed application for a provisional
127
license
to the department in a
form
prescribed
by department
128
rule
.
129
(b)
Has graduated from an approved
nursing education
130
program and
is eligible to take
the licensure examination under
131
s. 464.008
(1)
.
132
(c)
Has s
ubmit
ted
an application for licensure under s.
133
464.008.
134
(d)
Demonstrates proof of possessing malpractice insurance.
135
(e)
Submits documentation,
in accordance with rules
adopted
136
by the board, verifying that the applicant will practice under
137
the direct supervision of a licensed registered nurse or
138
licensed practical nurse as provided in subsection (3).
139
(2)
A provisional license is not renewable and is valid
140
until a
full
license is granted by the
department
.
However, a
141
provisional license is void if the
licensee
does not pass
the
142
licensure
examination approved by the board within 3 months
143
after the date of graduation from an approved nursing education
144
program
or if the licensee fails the licensure examination three
145
consecutive times during such 3-month period
.
If
a
provisional
146
license is void, the provisional licensee must immediately cease
147
practicing in a licensed nursing position.
148
(3)
An applicant for a provisional license may not work as
149
a
registered
nurse
or licensed practical nurse
until
the
150
provisional license is issued. A
registered
nurse
or licensed
151
practical nurse
practicing under a provisional license
may only
152
do
so under the direct supervision of a licensed registered
153
nurse or licensed practical nurse. A supervising nurse
may
154
supervise only one licensee at any given time. The supervising
155
nurse must
have
be
en
licensed for
at least
6 months before the
156
supervision period begins and must cosign all patient records
157
produced by the registered nurse or licensed practical nurse
158
practicing under a provisional license.
159 Section 3.
By July 1, 2026, the Board of Nursing shall
160
submit a formal request to
the National Council of State Boards
161
of Nursing
to offer
the
nursing
l
icensing
e
xamination and its
162
test preparation materials in Spanish
by July 1, 2027, or as
163
soon as possible thereafter
.
164 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.