Assigned to HHS & APPROP FOR COMMITTEE
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
FACT SHEET FOR S.B. 1446
appropriations; anesthesia; rotations
Purpose
Establishes the Student Registered Nurse Anesthetist Clinical Rotation Program (Program)
to expand the capacity of preceptor training programs for nurse anesthetist students and
appropriates $3,000,000 from the state General Fund (state GF) in FY 2026 to the Arizona State
Board of Nursing (AZBN) for Program administration.
Background
Statute authorizes the AZBN to certify registered nurses as certified registered nurse
anesthetists (CRNAs) if the nurse: 1) submits a Board-prescribed application; 2) has completed an
anesthesia program that is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia
Educational Programs (Council) or another national certifying body recognized by the AZBN;
3) has received certification by the Council or certifying body; and 4) has paid the applicable
certification fee (A.R.S. § 32-1634.03).
CRNAs are authorized to administer anesthetics under the direction of and in the presence
of a physician or surgeon in connection with preoperative, intraoperative or postoperative care of
a patient or as part of a procedure performed by a physician or surgeon in a health care institution,
ambulance or an office of a medical or osteopathic physician, podiatrist or dentist. The scope of
practice of CRNAs includes: 1) issuing medication orders, including for controlled substances, to
be administered by a licensed or certified health care provider; 2) assessing the health status of an
individual as the status relates to the risks associated with anesthetic management; 3) obtaining
informed consent; 4) ordering and evaluating laboratory and diagnostic test results and performing
point-of-care testing that the CRNA is qualified to perform; 5) ordering and evaluating
radiographic imaging studies that the CRNA is qualified to order and interpret; 6) identifying,
developing, implementing and evaluating an aesthetic plan of care for a patient; 7) taking necessary
action in response to an emergency situation; and 8) performing therapeutic procedures that the
CRNA is qualified to perform (A.R.S. § 32-1634.04).
Preceptorship means a mentoring experience in which a nursing preceptor provides a
program of personalized instruction, training and supervision to a graduate student to enable the
student to obtain an advance nursing degree and become licensed as an advance practice registered
nurse (A.R.S. § 32-1607).
S.B.1446 appropriates $3,000,000 from the state GF to the AZBN in FY 2026.
Provisions
1. Establishes the Program, for FY 2026, within the AZBN to expand the capacity of preceptor
training programs at health care institutions for nurse anesthetist students. FACT SHEET
S.B. 1446
Page 2
2. Requires the AZBN to develop a grant program to distribute appropriated Program monies, for
FY 2026, to licensed health care institutions to pay for the direct and indirect costs to expand
or develop clinical training placements for nurse anesthetist students, with preference given to
expanding or developing clinical rotations in obstetrics, pediatrics and cardiovascular care.
3. Specifies that awarded grant monies are intended to supplement, not supplant, existing training
program expenses covered by the health care institution grantee.
4. Requires grant monies to be distributed to grantees before the expenses for expanding or
developing clinical rotations are incurred.
5. Requires grantees to return all unspent grant monies to the AZBN.
6. Requires the AZBN to establish an application process for Program grants and to consider
prescribed factors when determining grant awards, including:
a) the geographic and population distribution;
b) the number of nurse anesthetist students expected to be trained and retained; and
c) the cost of the proposal for the number of nurse anesthetist students expected to participate
and be retained, compared to other proposals.
7. Appropriates $3,000,000 from the state GF in FY 2026 to the AZBN for administration of the
Program.
8. Exempts the appropriation from lapsing.
9. Defines health care institution.
10. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
February 10, 2025
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