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Senate committee hears divided testimony on bill to relax instructor degree requirement for nursing programs
Summary
Supporters told a Senate committee that Senate Bill 334 would ease a faculty bottleneck by allowing schools to hire instructors with degrees one level higher than the program they teach; opponents warned it could threaten accreditation, career mobility and quality if long-term care providers used the change to run unaccredited programs.
A Senate committee heard competing views Wednesday on Senate Bill 334, which would add a requirement to the statutory school-approval process that nursing-school faculty hold a nursing degree at least one level above the program they teach, while authorizing the Board of Nursing to grant exemptions for hardship.
Rachel Munger, president and CEO of LeadingAge Kansas, told the committee that the state’s problem is not a lack of students but a shortage of faculty and that the bill “codifies flexibility” already used in higher education by allowing programs to hire instructors who are one degree level above the program they teach. She said the Board of Nursing already grants exemptions and that SB 334 would make that flexibility “clearer, more transparent, more efficient.”
Opponents, led by Kelly Summers, RN (retired), said the change would not solve educator shortages and warned of unintended consequences if long-term care providers attempted to run education programs. “If a long term care home will open their own school of nursing, they will never qualify for national accreditation,” Summers said, arguing graduates from unaccredited programs could face limits on transferring credits, pursuing BSN degrees, military acceptance and some employers’ hiring.
Staff said the bill amends existing statutory approval rules for schools for professional and practical nurses and noted the Board of Nursing would be prohibited from adopting requirements more restrictive than the statute and could grant hardship exemptions. A fiscal briefing to the committee reported no fiscal note in the governor’s budget and described any administrative cost to revise regulations as negligible.
Committee members pressed both witnesses on the difference between bill text and organizational intent. Senator Owens noted that committee action is governed by the statute’s wording and that intent asserted in testimony does not change what the bill would allow in law. Summers acknowledged some concerns, but said questions about investigation and approvals rest with the Board of Nursing.
The committee did not take a final vote on SB 334 at the hearing. The chair noted two written oppositions and one written neutral comment on the bill and said the committee would continue its work on the posted schedule for the week before adjourning.
