California BRN tells IEC to pause blanket work and narcotics requirements for intervention participants

The Board of Registered Nursing on Sept. 17 directed the Intervention Evaluation Committee (IEC) to stop automatically requiring intervention-program participants to work in direct patient care or to pass narcotics testing unless there is evidence showing a patient-safety risk.

Loretta Melby, executive officer for the Board of Registered Nursing, told the IEC that the board adopted the instruction in an August 2025 motion and asked staff to audit past recommendations and educate IEC members on applying the board’s standards. "They asked me to review for evidence to support that request," Melby said of IEC recommendations to extend participation past three years or to permit work in direct patient care or access to narcotics.

The board’s motion responds to public and stakeholder concerns, Melby said, and resulted after staff could not trace a single authoritative source that had required those measures. She cited Business and Professions Code section 2770 as the statutory framework that directs the board to identify and rehabilitate nurses whose competence may be…