Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 12, March 22, 2024
(a) The program of study preparing a nurse
practitioner shall be approved by the board and be consistent with the nurse
practitioner curriculum core competencies as specified by the National
Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties in "Nurse Practitioner Core
Competencies Content" (2017), which is hereby incorporated by
reference.
(b) The purpose of the
nurse practitioner education program shall be to prepare a graduate nurse
practitioner to provide competent primary care and/or acute care services in
one or more of the categories.
Written program materials shall reflect the mission,
philosophy, purposes, and outcomes of the program and be available to
students.
Learning outcomes for the nurse practitioner education
program shall be measurable and reflect assessment and evaluation of the
theoretical knowledge and clinical competencies required of the
graduate.
(c) Administration
and organization of the nurse practitioner education program shall:
(1) Be taught in a college or university
accredited by a nursing organization that is recognized by the United States
Department of Education or the Council of Higher Education Accreditation that
offers a graduate degree to qualified students.
(2) Prepare graduates for national
certification as a certified nurse practitioner in one or more nurse
practitioner category by the National Commission on Certifying Agencies or the
American Board of Nursing Specialties.
(3) Have admission requirements and policies
for withdrawal, dismissal and readmission that are clearly stated and available
to the student.
(4) Inform
applicants of the academic accreditation and board approval status of the
program.
(5) Document the nurse
practitioner role and the category of educational preparation on the program's
official transcript.
(6) Maintain a
method for retrieval of records in the event of program closure.
(7) Have and implement a written total
program evaluation plan.
(8) Have
sufficient resources to achieve the program outcomes.
(d) Faculty.
(1) There shall be an adequate number of
qualified faculty to develop and implement the program and to achieve the
stated outcomes.
(2) Each faculty
member shall demonstrate current competence in the area in which he or she
teaches.
(3) There shall be a lead
nurse practitioner faculty educator who meets the faculty
qualifications.
(4) Faculty who
teach in the nurse practitioner education program shall be educationally
qualified and clinically competent in the same category as the theory and
clinical areas taught. Faculty shall meet the following requirements:
(A) Hold an active, valid California
registered nurse license;
(B) Have
a Master's degree or higher degree in nursing;
(C) Have at least two years of clinical
experience as a nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, clinical nurse
specialist, or certified registered nurse anesthetist within the last five (5)
years of practice and consistent with the teaching
responsibilities.
(5)
Faculty teaching in clinical courses shall be current in clinical
practice.
(6) Each faculty member
shall assume responsibility and accountability for instruction, planning, and
implementation of the curriculum, and evaluation of students and the
program.
(7) Interdisciplinary
faculty who teach non-clinical nurse practitioner nursing courses, such as but
not limited to, pharmacology, pathophysiology, and physical assessment, shall
have a valid and active California license issued by the appropriate licensing
agency and an advanced graduate degree in the appropriate content
areas.
(e) Director.
(1) The nurse practitioner education program
director shall be responsible and accountable for the nurse practitioner
education program within an accredited academic institution including the areas
of education program, curriculum design, and resource acquisition, and shall
meet the following requirements:
(A) Hold an
active, valid California registered nurse license;
(B) Have a Master's or a higher degree in
nursing;
(C) Have had one academic
year of experience, within the last five (5) years, as an instructor in a
school of professional nursing, or in a program preparing nurse practitioners;
and
(D) Be certified by the board
as a nurse practitioner.
(2) The director, if he or she meets the
requirements for the certified nurse practitioner role, may fulfill the lead
nurse practitioner faculty educator role and
responsibilities.
(f)
Clinical Preceptor.
(1) A clinical preceptor
in the nurse practitioner education program shall:
(A) Hold an active valid, California license
to practice his or her respective profession and demonstrate current clinical
competence.
(B) Participate in
teaching, supervising, and evaluating students, and shall be competent in the
content and skills being taught to the students.
(2) Clinical preceptor functions and
responsibilities shall be clearly documented in a written agreement between the
agency, the preceptor, and the nurse practitioner education program including
the clinical preceptor's role to teach, supervise and evaluate students in the
nurse practitioner education program.
(3) A clinical preceptor is oriented to
program and curriculum requirements, including responsibilities related to
student supervision and evaluation;
(4) A clinical preceptor shall be evaluated
by the program faculty at least every two (2) years.
(g) Students shall hold an active, valid
California registered nurse license to participate in nurse practitioner
education program clinical experiences.
(h) Nurse Practitioner Education Program
Curriculum.
The nurse practitioner education program curriculum shall
include all theoretical and clinical instruction that meet the standards set
forth in this section and be consistent with national standards for graduate
and nurse practitioner education, including nationally recognized core role and
category competencies and be approved by the board.
(1) The program shall evaluate previous
education and experience in health care for the purpose of granting credit for
meeting program requirements.
(2)
The curriculum shall provide broad educational preparation and include a
graduate core, advance practice registered nursing core, the nurse practitioner
core role competencies, and the competencies specific to the
category.
(3) The program shall
prepare the graduate to be eligible to sit for a specific national nurse
practitioner category certification examination consistent with educational
preparation.
(4) The curriculum
plan shall have appropriate course sequencing and progression, which includes,
but is not limited to the following:
(A) The
advanced practice registered nursing core courses in advanced health
assessment, advanced pharmacology, and advanced pathophysiology shall be
completed prior to or concurrent with commencing clinical course
work.
(B) Instruction and skills
practice for diagnostic and treatment procedures shall occur prior to
application in the clinical setting.
(C) Concurrent theory and clinical practice
courses in the category shall emphasize the management of health-illness needs
in primary and/or acute care.
(D)
The supervised direct patient care precepted clinical experiences shall be
under the supervision of a certified nurse practitioner.
(5) The program shall meet and may exceed the
minimum of 500 clinical hours of supervised direct patient care experiences, as
specified in current nurse practitioner standards provided in this section.
Additional clinical hours required for preparation in more than one category
shall be identified and documented in the curriculum plan for each
category.
(6) The nurse
practitioner education curriculum shall include content related to California
Nursing Practice Act, Business & Professions Code, Division 2, Chapter 6,
Article 8, "Nurse Practitioners", and California Code of Regulations Title 16,
Division 14, Article 7, "Standardized Procedure Guidelines" and Article 8,
"Standards for Nurse Practitioners," including, but not limited to:
(A) Section
2835.7 of Business &
Professions Code, "Additional authorized acts; implementation of standardized
procedures";
(B) Section
2836.1 of Business &
Professions Code, "Furnishing or ordering of drugs or
devices."
(7) The program
may be full-time or part-time, and shall be consistent with standards as
established by The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties
(NONPF) in "Nurse Practitioner Core Competencies Content" (2017) or the
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in "Criteria for Evaluation
of Nurse Practitioner Programs" (2016), which is hereby incorporated by
reference. The program must also include theory and supervised clinical
practice.
(8) The course of
instruction program units and contact hours shall be calculated using the
following formulas:
(A) One (1) hour of
instruction in theory each week throughout a semester or quarter equals one (1)
unit.
(B) Three (3) hours of
clinical practice each week throughout a semester or quarter equals one (1)
unit. Academic year means two semesters, where each semester is 15-18 weeks; or
three quarters, where each quarter is 10-12 weeks.
(9) Supervised clinical practice shall
consist of at least 12 semester units or 18 quarter units.
(10) The duration of clinical experience
shall be sufficient for the student to demonstrate clinical competencies in the
nurse practitioner category.
(11)
The nurse practitioner education program shall arrange for clinical instruction
and supervision of the student.
1. Amendment
of section heading, section and NOTE filed 1-15-2019; operative 1-15-2019
pursuant to Government Code section
11343.4(b)(3)
(Register 2019, No. 3).
2. Amendment of subsection (h)(5) filed
2-8-2022; operative 4-1-2022 (Register 2022, No.
6).
Note: Authority cited: Sections
2715,
2835.7
and
2836,
Business and Professions Code. Reference: Sections
2835,
2835.5,
2835.7,
2836,
2836.1,
2836.2,
2836.3
and
2837,
Business and Professions Code.