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 Cornell) will take up subsections (b), (d) and (e) — consortium participation, identification/reporting of alleged pay-for-placement violations, and equitable access to clinical placements. Legal staff agreed to support the clinical placement subcommittee on enforcement and reporting questions.

Committee members emphasized that the initial phase should focus on gathering consistent information (an “environmental scan”) about current practice and data availability before recommending whether BRN should pursue a statewide data consortium or regulatory oversight. Executive Officer Laurie Melby and others described past statewide audit recommendations and prior legislative efforts to obtain consistent facility-level placement data. Melby said the BRN has limited internal capacity to host a statewide consortium and would likely need to contract for a centralized data service; boards in some other states use statewide consortia for data collection, she said.

Members and public commenters described how regional consortiums currently operate in parts of California (San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento and the Bay Area were cited) and how consortiums vary in whether health-care facilities participate and whether they publicize onboarding requirements. Speakers from health systems said relationships, consistent onboarding documentation and timely submission of student paperwork are key operational elements; clinical facilities noted they sometimes refuse placements when program paperwork arrives late.

Committee members raised other issues NEWAC will consider in the environmental scan: the current pre‑licensure direct patient care hour requirement cited in the meeting (500 hours), older standards cited by some commentators (864 hours), simulation limits and evidence supporting simulation (NCSBN’s evidence supporting up to 50% simulation under specified conditions), and the difficulty of proving payments intended to secure placements when transfers take the form of donations, endowments or other indirect support.

NEWAC asked staff and subcommittees to report back with timelines and recommended data fields. The committee also directed staff to work with the Health Care Affiliation and Information (HCAI) data collectors and other state entities as appropriate to explore whether standardized data fields and regional approaches can be combined with a statewide data set.

Votes at a glance - Motion to assign SB 1015 study tasks to subcommittees (curriculum subcommittee: subsection a; clinical placement/impaction subcommittee: subsections b, d, e; legal support for the latter): passed (roll-call vote recorded). - Motion to schedule a follow-up NEWAC meeting to address letters received and continue SB 1015 work: passed (roll-call vote recorded).

The committee set a June follow-up meeting (June 25, 2025, was selected by vote) to receive detailed submissions, review letters received from higher education groups, and further scope the subcommittees’ work. NEWAC members and staff said the substantive work will happen primarily in subcommittees between full‑committee meetings and that the subcommittees should return with recommended data elements and a timeline for a report the board can forward to the Legislature as required by SB 1015.

Clarifying details and next steps include: staff and subcommittees will (1) perform an environmental scan of current consortium activity and clinical placement practices, (2) draft a consistent set of data fields and reporting definitions the board can use, (3) investigate practical options for collecting facility-level data (including vendors), and (4) explore reporting pathways to identify potential pay‑for‑placement violations for board investigation, while avoiding premature accusations without corroborating evidence.

The committee’s action was framed as information‑gathering and recommendation development to support the board’s required legislative report rather than immediate regulatory action.