Volume 43 - Issue 41 - October 10, 2024
State of Kansas
Board of Nursing
Notice of Hearing on Proposed Administrative Regulations
A public hearing will be conducted at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 17, 2024, in Room 560 on the 5th floor of the Landon State Office Building, 900 SW Jackson St., Topeka, Kansas, to consider the adoption of proposed changes in nine existing regulations: K.A.R. 60-17-101, 60-17-102, 60-17-103, 60-17-104, 60-17-105, 60-17-106, 60-17-107, 60-17-108 and 60-17-109, relating to graduate nursing education and programs that offer the education.
This 60-day notice of the public hearing shall constitute a public comment period for the purpose of receiving written public comments on the proposed regulations. All interested parties may submit written comments prior to the hearing to the Executive Administrator of the Kansas State Board of Nursing, 900 SW Jackson St., Suite 1051, Topeka, KS 66612 or by email to carol.moreland@ks.gov. All interested parties will be given a reasonable opportunity to present their views orally regarding the adoption of the proposed regulations during the public hearing. Phone comments will be taken by calling 1-877-278-8686 (access code 185877) at the time of the hearing. To provide all parties an opportunity to present their views, it may be necessary to request that each participant limit any oral presentation to five minutes.
Any individual with a disability may request an accommodation to participate in the public hearing and may request the proposed regulations and economic impact statement in an accessible format. Requests for accommodation to participate in the hearing should be made at least five working days in advance of the hearing by contacting Carol Moreland at 785-296-5752. The north entrance to the Landon State Office Building is handicapped accessible. Handicapped parking is located at the north end of the Landon State Office Building, across the street from the north entrance to the building, and on Ninth Street, just around the corner from the north entrance to the building.
Summaries of the proposed regulations and their economic impact follow. Copies of the proposed regulations and associated economic impact statement may be obtained by accessing the Kansas State Board of Nursing website at https://ksbn.kansas.gov or by contacting the Executive Administrator of the Kansas State Board of Nursing, Landon State Office Building, 900 SW Jackson St., Suite 1051, Topeka, KS 66612, phone 785-296-5752, or carol.moreland@ks.gov prior to the date of the hearing.
K.A.R. 60-17-101. Definitions. This proposed regulation provides clarity and updating with current educational practices. Language for the following definitions are added: academic equivalent, criteria for unscheduled survey or site visit, debriefing, loss of approval, online or distance learning, practice hours, program evaluation plan, semester credit hours, simulation, survey or site visit, student learning outcomes and quarter credit hour. This proposed regulation changes the current definition of preceptor to include a licensed interdisciplinary professional with a health science degree at a master’s level or above for practice hours over 750.
K.A.R. 60-17-102. Requirements for initial approval. This proposed regulation provides clarity to the requirements for initial approval. The changes to this regulation align more with the national accrediting agencies that accredit graduate nursing programs. This change makes it easier for the graduate nursing programs as it is alignment with their national accreditation agency’s requirements and elevates our requirements to a national benchmark.
K.A.R. 60-17-103. Reapproval requirements. This proposed regulation provides clarity to the requirements for reapproval of the graduate nursing education program. It adds the requirements to have an audited fiscal report for the previous two years and the testing process available during the site visit for reapproval of the program.
K.A.R. 60-17-104. Administrator, faculty and preceptor qualifications. The proposed regulation provides clarity to the qualifications for the program administrator, faculty and preceptors. The preceptor requirements are expanded to include a licensed interdisciplinary professional with a health science degree at a master’s level or above for any practice hours greater than 750 in the program curriculum.
K.A.R. 60-17-105. Curriculum requirements. This proposed regulation clarifies the curriculum requirements for any graduate nursing program in Kansas. College hours has been changed to semester credit hours or the academic equivalent. The number of practice hours required after March 1, 2025, will increase to at least 750.
K.A.R. 60-17-106. Clinical resources. This proposed regulation clarifies some of the language for clinical resources in a graduate nursing program.
K.A.R. 60-17-107. Educational facilities. This proposed regulation clarifies requirements for the educational facility in an advanced nursing program.
K.A.R. 60-17-108. Student policies. This proposed regulation adds the following language for required student policies in an advanced nursing program: oral and written English proficiency, difference between the student and employee role, refund policies, ethical practices for the performance of activities and the requirement for written policy providing information to all students regarding licensure denial before admission to the program.
K.A.R. 60-17-109. Reports. This proposed regulation clarifies the requirements for the annual report submitted to the Kansas State Board of Nursing. This proposed revision adds the following requirements: an audited fiscal report for the previous two years, any complaints received involving KSBN educational statutes and regulations, policies used to safeguard students and a copy of the school’s current catalog.
These revisions were requested by the advanced practice graduate programs in Kansas and provide clarity to requirements in the regulations. There will be no additional cost to the programs with these proposed revisions. A benefit to the programs and students is the availability to have interdisciplinary preceptors for practice hours greater than 750 in the curriculum. These proposed revisions align more with national accreditation guidelines for advanced practice nursing programs than current regulations. The cost to KSBN in the current fiscal year will be absorbed and no additional costs in the next fiscal year. The long-range economic impact for businesses and small employers will be minimal, if any. There will be no long-range economic impact for the general public. The businesses impacted by these revisions are the nine educational institutions in Kansas that offer the graduate nursing programs.
Carol Moreland, MSN, RN
Executive Administrator
Board of Nursing
Doc. No. 052563
