Bill > SB2013

This bill, known as the "Tennessee Nursing Education Integrity and Oversight Act," establishes a temporary two-year moratorium on the approval of new out-of-state nursing education programs seeking to operate, enroll students, or place students for clinical experiences in Tennessee, with exceptions for programs already approved before the bill's enactment, provided they submit requested data. During this moratorium, the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement and the Board of Nursing (the state body that regulates nursing practice and education) will collaborate to develop and recommend new, more rigorous standards for out-of-state programs that use Tennessee-licensed preceptors or clinical sites, focusing on aspects like preceptor verification, student residency, annual reporting, faculty oversight, data collection, and ensuring educational equivalency and patient safety. The bill also clarifies that it does not affect the Board of Nursing's existing authority to enforce nursing laws and specifically exempts nurse anesthesia educational programs accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA) from these new requirements, as long as they meet certain accreditation and student compliance standards.