NEWAC launches study required by SB 1015 on clinical placements, assigns subcommittees and timeline

The Nursing Education Workforce Advisory Committee (NEWAC) at the Board of Registered Nursing opened a multi-step study of Senate Bill 1015 that directs the committee to examine how approved nursing programs manage clinical placements, whether consortium models could help coordinate placements, how to identify possible violations of the pay-for-placement prohibition, and how to ensure fair access to clinical sites. Committee chair Garrett Chan convened the discussion and read the bill language provided in the meeting materials, noting the bill was signed into law on Sept. 27, 2024.

The study will begin with an environmental scan and data collection before NEWAC considers whether to recommend a statewide consortium or regulatory oversight of existing consortiums. NEWAC members and staff described the task as complex and largely regional, requiring consistent, facility-level data that the board currently receives only from academic programs, not directly from clinical sites.

The committee voted to assign work as a first phase: the Curriculum Standards and Guidelines subcommittee (co‑chaired by Janine Graves and Sajid De Guzman) will take up subsection (a) — how approved programs maintain clinical education standards — while the Clinical Placement/Impaction subcommittee (co‑chaired by Joanne Spetz and Judy…