Special Projects/Investigations Manager
More than 1,300 Nightingale College graduates could be affected by a legal dispute over whether their training meets California’s requirements to take the registered nurse licensing exam, according to the Utah-based college.
California law requires graduates of out-of-state nursing schools to complete coursework that the Board of Registered Nursing considers equivalent to the minimum requirements for California-approved programs. Those program requirements include at least 500 hours of direct patient-care clinical training, with at least 30 hours in each specified nursing area. The dispute is over how those standards apply to Nightingale graduates.
In August, Nightingale sued the board in Sacramento County Superior Court, alleging it is unfairly blocking the college’s graduates from moving forward with California licensure. The college calls the disputed requirements “underground regulations” that were not properly adopted for out-of-state applicants. It also says the board previously authorized more than 2,000 Nightingale graduates to take the licensing exam and licensed nearly 2,000 under the same curriculum. Those figures and claims come from Nightingale’s filings.
The board’s court filings say it warned the college about curriculum deficiencies over 16 months ago and argues that the disputed requirements are necessary to protect the public.
On Friday, Oct. 23, a judge is scheduled to hear Nightingale’s request for a preliminary injunction. The college is asking the court to stop the board from applying the disputed requirements while the case continues and to process affected applications under the standards Nightingale says apply.
In court paperwork, the board says Nightingale’s request could allow hundreds of graduates to take the licensing exam and become bedside nurses before the case is resolved. The board has argued that these graduates are “unqualified and unprepared,” an assertion the court has not ruled on. An authorization to test would allow a graduate to take the NCLEX-RN; it would not itself grant a nursing license.
Meanwhile, Nightingale says it is offering additional coursework to some graduates who received deficiency notices. The college says the additional work could include up to 140 hours of direct patient care. Its website describes the courses as a limited-enrollment pilot.
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