BRN nursing committee recommends 2026 sunset report with edits; discusses NP independent practice, midwifery certification and DUI discipline

The Board of Registered Nursing—s Nursing Practice Committee on Oct. 30 recommended that the full board approve the board—s draft 2026 sunset report, with the committee—s suggested edits, after a detailed staff presentation and committee review.

The committee voted unanimously to forward the report to the board for continued review and finalization. Committee members said they found the draft to be well organized but identified typographical corrections and several substantive clarifications they wanted included before the report is finalized and posted for broader review.

The report review occupied most of the meeting. Executive officer Loretta Melby summarized corrections posted in a track-changes version, including misspellings, table-ordering issues and clarifications about which advisory-review processes apply to which advanced-practice groups. Melby told the committee the nurse practitioner advisory committee had discussed and prepared for the 104 application process that staff plans to launch in January to allow certain nurse practitioners to practice in an independent role consistent with their education and national certification. "We are going to be launching the 104 application in January," Melby said.

Committee members also heard that the nurse midwifery advisory committee updated a midwifery FAQ after recent legislation and unanimously voted to explore whether to require national certification for initial licensure of nurse midwives in California. Melby said the CRNA advisory committee had received a presentation from the California Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (CAMA) on priorities, and that CRNA and CNS regulatory work is moving forward; the board will bring a pending CRNA advisory committee appointment to the full board for ratification in November.

The nursing education workforce advisory committee reported continuing challenges securing clinical placements for nursing students, communications with nursing education entities and implementation matters stemming from prior sunset legislation; staff said a regional-projections survey for nursing will be prepared for 2026.

Committee members proposed and agreed on several substantive clarifications to the sunset report. On a recommended wording change about an intervention-program stipend, the committee favored clearer language that staff offered in the meeting: "The stipend program will continue only if the BRN has enough funds in its budget to support it." On the question of whether successful completion of the board—s intervention program should require a return to direct patient-care employment, members asked staff to broaden draft statutory language to allow program completion when a participant has mitigating circumstances such as a disability, health condition, retirement or a career path that does not involve direct patient care; legal counsel noted the committee—s text would be refined during legislative drafting.

The committee also discussed how to address discipline for driving under the influence. Staff proposed aligning statutory language with other healing-arts boards by specifying when DUI-related conduct should be treated as unprofessional conduct that may lead to discipline. Committee legal counsel cautioned against wording that could conflict with existing case law; after discussion the committee kept its recommended statutory approach in the report while clarifying the comparison with other healing-arts boards.

Public commenters raised two items during the meeting: a request that an acronym (IEC) be spelled out in materials (staff noted IEC is defined as "Intervention Evaluation Committee" at first use and listed in the report—s acronyms) and a public commenter who said a prior DUI-related disciplinary finding had long-term professional consequences and thanked the committee for proposing the change to how DUIs outside the workplace are handled.

The committee recorded two formal actions during the meeting. Earlier in the session it approved prior meeting minutes for Jan. 22, 2025, and late in the meeting it voted to recommend the 2026 sunset report move to the board with the committee—s suggested edits. The committee chair adjourned the meeting at 10:03 a.m.

The board is scheduled to consider the sunset report at its Nov. 20 meeting; staff said the report must be board-approved to be submitted for the legislative cycle in January.