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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
House Resolution 1
A resolution requesting the National Council of State 2
Boards of Nursing to produce and distribute the NCLEX 3
examination and test preparation materials in Spanish 4
in Florida. 5
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WHEREAS, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing 7
distributes the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) 8
to Florida and other states in the United States, and 9
WHEREAS, Hispanic and Latino groups are the second -largest 10
racial and ethnic groups in Florida representing 26 percent of 11
the population, and which totals more than 5 million residents, 12
and 13
WHEREAS, the NCLEX is a timed test that determines if a 14
nursing student is adequately prepared to practice as a licensed 15
nurse, and 16
WHEREAS, experience and studies have shown that the NCLEX 17
test results for test takers for whom English is a second 18
language are lower than for test takers for whom English is 19
their first language, and 20
WHEREAS, Canada adopted the NCLEX as its licensing 21
examination in 2012, even though it was only offered in English , 22
and first time success rates on the examination for French -23
Canadian testers fell from 91 percent to 32 percent ; however, in 24
2019, after the NCLEX was provided in French, the passage rates 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
of French-Canadian speaking students on the nursing exam 26
increased substantially, resulting in more available nurses, and 27
WHEREAS, Florida offers licensing examinations in Spanish 28
and other languages for many professions, including for dental 29
hygienists, real estate agents, certified nursing assistants, 30
contractors, food protection managers, cosmetologists, massage 31
therapists, driver license applicants, and certified medical 32
interpreters, and 33
WHEREAS, Florida licensing entities, such as the Electrical 34
Contractors Licensing Board, offer special accommodations for 35
speakers of other languages, as do the rules of the Florida 36
Division of Medical Quality Assurance for Clinical Mental Health 37
Counselors, and several medical professions, including 38
Psychology, Medicine, Osteopathy, Podiatry, Optometry, Speech -39
Language Pathology and Audiology, and Chiropractic Medicine, and 40
WHEREAS, according to the Florida Hospital Association, 41
Florida's nursing shortage is expected to reach 59,000 vacancies 42
by 2035, and 43
WHEREAS, one of the goals of the Florida healthcare system 44
is to close the gap and increase the supply of available nurses 45
for hospitals and other health care facilities, and 46
WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature has taken steps recently 47
to increase the supply of nurses i n Florida by appropriating 48
funds through the General Appropriations Act to assist nursing 49
students and nursing programs , and 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
WHEREAS, House of Representatives recognizes that Florida 51
is experiencing a significant nursing shortage and that steps 52
need to be taken to assure that nursing students graduating from 53
Florida nursing programs have the best possible chance to pass 54
the NCLEX, and to work as nurses in this state , NOW, THEREFORE, 55
56
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of 57
Florida: 58
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That the National Council of State Boards of Nursing is 60
requested to produce and distribute an NCLEX examination in 61
Florida, along with test preparation materials, in Spanish. 62