TALLAHASSEE—Independent Colleges and Universities President (ICUF) Bob Boyd expressed concern about a provision in a nursing bill that creates a temporary, nonrenewable 180-day provisional license through the Florida Department of Health for graduate nurses to practice under supervision in the state.
Boyd expressed his concerns after a press release in the state capitol where the group highlighted a new study showing that private colleges and universities "deliver a remarkable return on investment for taxpayers."
Sen. Gayle Harrell sponsored the bill (SB 254) in the Senate. A comparable bill, filed by Rep. Toby Overdorf (R-Palm City), has already passed in the House.
"One of the worries is that they're holding the program director personally liable if they fail to meet certain benchmarks. We're worried that less administrators will go into the nursing field because of that provision. That's one of our biggest worries," Boyd told The Floridian. "How do you get a good nursing director for these programs if you've got this liability provision in there?"
"We've also talked about how long you're on probation before the State takes action. They moved it down from two or three years to one year," Boyd added. "That concerns us a little bit. If there's some kind of problem, we like time to react."
Boyd noted that the ICUF's National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) scores were as good or better than those of the state sector.
Boyd and other members of the ICUF, including Barry University President Mike Allen, St. Thomas University President David Armstrong, and Keiser University Chancellor Arthur Keiser, discussed similar impacts on the healthcare sector, including related to Effective Access to Student Education (EASE) grants, in Florida back in April.
Belinda Keiser, Vice-Chancellor of Community Relations and Student Advancement at Keiser University, also addressed some concerns about the bill.
Keiser University, which is part of ICUF, is one of the largest producers of nurses in the state.
"What's happening is a lot of the nursing professionals are aging out of the system, and during covid That became even more intense," Keiser said.
While in support of Harrell's intention, Keiser warned of possible punitive drawbacks, noting that many ICUF schools have accelerated programs for a baccalaureate degree after passing the NCLEX exam.
"Innovation, still maintaining quality and a high level of accountability, will help us catch up," Keiser added. "But regulations that doesn't [sic] work with the nursing profession and education, and employers will not allow us to catch up."
