Votes at a glance: BRN actions Feb. 26, 2025 — regulatory package adopted, education items mixed

Summary of formal board votes and outcomes recorded during the Board of Registered Nursing meeting on Feb. 26, 2025. The board took multiple votes on regulatory and education matters; below are the principal recorded actions and roll-call outcomes.

1) Regulatory package implementing SB 1451 (nurse practitioner changes) Motion: Direct staff to continue with the rulemaking file for proposed regulatory text to incorporate statutory changes from SB 1451 and related updates; authorize executive officer to proceed through DCA and agency review and to adopt final text if no adverse comments are received. Vote: Unanimous approval on roll call. Recorded yes votes: Dolores Trujillo (president), Nilu Patel (vice president), Jovita Dominguez, Patricia Wynne, David Lawler, Vicki Granowitz, Allison Cormack.

2) Education Licensing Committee (ELC) consent items (multiple program approvals, curriculum changes, clinical-site acknowledgments) Action: The board accepted the ELC’s recommendations for the items considered by the committee on Jan. 22, 2025 (consent agenda of program reviews, curriculum revisions, acknowledgments of program progress reports and clinical-site approvals as listed in the committee materials). Vote: Approved by roll call; individual board members recorded as yes.

3) Samuel Merritt University — enrollment increase request, Sacramento campus (substantive change) Motion/decision: After committee discussion and public comment, the board voted to deny the requested enrollment increase for Samuel Merritt’s Sacramento campus (the board considered concerns about clinical-site impaction in Region 1 and public-comment objections from other local programs). Final roll-call outcome: motion to deny carried; recorded yes votes from board members on the denial included Dominguez, Trujillo, Patel, Cormack, Granowitz, Wynne and Lawler.

4) Gurnick Medical Arts — feasibility study for a new prelicensure BSN campus (San Jose) Action: The board accepted the feasibility study for a Gurnick Medical Arts secondary campus in San Jose and described next steps (a full self‑study and program-approval review remain required before a campus can enroll students; acceptance of feasibility does not itself permit immediate enrollments until the self-study and required approvals are completed). Roll-call vote: approved by board; recorded yes votes included Dominguez, Trujillo, Patel, Granowitz, Wynne, Lawler and Cormack.

5) Advisory committee appointments - Nurse Midwifery Advisory Committee: Appointment of Kim Dow to fill the vacancy. Board vote: approved (roll call recorded yes votes). - Nursing Education & Workforce Advisory Committee (NEWAC): Appointment of Alice Benjamin to fill an APN vacancy. Board vote: approved (roll call recorded yes votes).

6) Procedural votes - Approval of Nov. 2024 meeting minutes and other procedural items: approved by roll call.

Notes and next steps - Acceptance of a feasibility study or an ELC recommendation is not the same as full program approval. Programs granted feasibility study acceptance must still complete a self‑study, site documentation and a full BRN review to receive program approval and to enroll students. - The board flagged clinical-site impaction in the Sacramento region as a primary reason for the Samuel Merritt denial; public commenters from multiple local programs and colleges expressed concern that additional enrollment in that region would exceed local clinical capacity. - The SB 1451 regulatory package adopted by the board will move forward through the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency review and then through the formal rulemaking process.

The board recorded roll-call votes for all actions and requested follow-up on self-study timelines, vendor and staffing issues, and future committee reporting.