Kansas State Board of Nursing education committee keeps Donnelly on conditional status, approves multiple program changes and reapprovals

The Education Committee of the Kansas State Board of Nursing on Wednesday voted to keep Donnelly Collegeon conditional approval and to maintain the committeerecommendation that the college not admit new nursing students until the committee reviews implementation progress in September.

The committee also approved a package of site-visit reapprovals and major curriculum changes for multiple nursing programs statewide, and discussed recommendations from the LMHT (licensed mental health technician) task force and the 2:1 simulation-hours question. Several institutions confirmed new curriculum alignments with national test and accreditation standards.

The committee said the decision on Donnelly follows a lengthy improvement-plan presentation by Donnelly staff and a review of interim data, ongoing complaints and corrective steps the college has undertaken. Lauren Fish, director of nursing at Donnelly College, described actions the college has taken since March to stabilize faculty, add an NCLEX-focused remediation program, contract with ATI for integrated assessment and remediation, hire a simulation coordinator and to improve student advising and complaint tracking. "Donnelly College is really important as a gateway mission," Fish said in the meeting. "We respectfully request that you would allow us to admit PN students in the fall." The committee did not accept that request at this meeting.

Why it matters: Donnellyserves a predominantly first-generation, multilingual student population and the committee said it must see sustained implementation of the college's corrective steps before allowing a new cohort. The college's leaders reported recent changes they say should increase NCLEX success rates, but the committee said it needs more time and evidence. The committee reiterated the board's prior March action placing Donnelly's programs on conditional approval and pausing new admissions until the program shows six months of stability and a satisfactory site visit.

What the committee asked Donnelly to show: continued…