81R3627 SJM-D
By: Nelson S.B. No. 790
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to clinical practice hours available for professional
nursing educational programs at certain hospitals.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 105, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 105.0021 to read as follows:
Sec. 105.0021. CLINICAL PRACTICE HOURS DATABASE; REPORTING
REQUIREMENTS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Hospital" has the meaning assigned by Section
108.002.
(2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003, Education Code.
(3) "Reporting year" means a period beginning August 1
and ending on the succeeding July 31.
(b) The council shall establish and maintain a database of
clinical practice hours, disaggregated by hospital location, that
are available at hospitals for professional nursing educational
programs regulated by the Texas Board of Nursing that are offered at
institutions of higher education in this state. The council shall
administer the database through the nursing resource section of the
health professions resource center created under Section 105.002.
(c) Not later than August 1 of each year, each hospital
shall report to the nursing resource section:
(1) the projected number of clinical practice hours
that will be available to professional nursing educational programs
at institutions of higher education in this state at the hospital
during the reporting year that begins on that August 1;
(2) the actual number of clinical practice hours that
were available to professional nursing educational programs at the
hospital during the preceding reporting year; and
(3) the actual number of clinical practice hours used
by professional nursing educational programs at the hospital, by
institution of higher education, during the preceding reporting
year.
(d) The council may exempt from the reporting requirement in
Subsection (c) a hospital that is unable to provide clinical
practice hours to professional nursing educational programs.
(e) The nursing resource section shall report to
professional nursing educational programs the following
information disaggregated by hospital location:
(1) the actual number of clinical practice hours
available during the preceding reporting year;
(2) the actual number of unused clinical practice
hours during the preceding reporting year;
(3) the projected number of clinical practice hours
available for the following reporting year; and
(4) a comparison of the variation between projected
and available clinical practice hours for the preceding reporting
year.
(f) Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
council shall submit a report to the legislature that:
(1) lists the number of unused clinical practice hours
for reporting hospitals;
(2) identifies specific professional nursing
educational programs at institutions of higher education that could
be targeted for growth based on geographical proximity to
facilities with unused clinical practice hours; and
(3) provides an analysis of the variation between
projected and available clinical practice hours in preceding
reporting years.
(g) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission may adopt rules as necessary to administer this
section.
SECTION 2. Section 301.157, Occupations Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
(i) The board by rule shall establish a range of clinical
practice hours a nursing student enrolled in a school of nursing or
educational program at an institution of higher education is
required to complete to receive an initial license as a registered
nurse in this state. In establishing the range of hours, the board
shall consult with each institution of higher education that
provides a school of nursing or educational program in this state
and is regulated by the board. The board may vary the number of
clinical practice hours required for a school of nursing or
educational program based on the type of nursing degree offered by
the school or program.
SECTION 3. (a) The Texas Board of Nursing shall establish
the range of clinical practice hours a professional nursing student
is required to complete under Section 301.157(i), Occupations Code,
as added by this Act, not later than March 1, 2010.
(b) The range of clinical practice hours established by the
Texas Board of Nursing under Section 301.157(i), Occupations Code,
as added by this Act, applies only to a student who initially
enrolls in a school of nursing or educational program at an
institution of higher education on or after September 1, 2010. A
student who was enrolled in a school of nursing or educational
program at an institution of higher education before September 1,
2010, and continues to be enrolled in the same school or program on
or after that date is subject to the law in effect at the time of the
student's initial enrollment in the school or program, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. This subsection
expires August 31, 2016.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 105.0021, Health and Safety
Code, as added by this Act:
(1) a hospital shall submit the initial report
required under Section 105.0021(c), Health and Safety Code, not
later than August 1, 2010;
(2) the nursing resource section of the health
professions resource center shall report:
(A) the information required under Sections
105.0021(e)(1) through (3), Health and Safety Code, not later than
November 1, 2010; and
(B) the information required under Section
105.0021(e)(4), Health and Safety Code, not later than November 1,
2011; and
(3) the statewide health coordinating council shall
submit the initial report required under Section 105.0021(f)(3),
Health and Safety Code, not later than January 1, 2013.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.