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§ 1484. Nurse Practitioner Education.

16 CA ADC § 1484Barclays Official California Code of RegulationsEffective: April 1, 2022

Barclays California Code of Regulations
Title 16. Professional and Vocational Regulations
Division 14. Board of Registered Nursing
Article 8. Nurse Practitioners
Effective: April 1, 2022
16 CCR § 1484
§ 1484. Nurse Practitioner Education.
(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.

Credits

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.
History
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).
This database is current through 3/15/24 Register 2024, No. 11.
Cal. Admin. Code tit. 16, § 1484, 16 CA ADC § 1484
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