Emergency Rule Making – Education Law- Amendment: Education Requirements for Licensure as an RN and LPN in NY When Coming from Another State
Concerning trends have been identified with some out of state nursing schools. A recent Federal investigation and series of indictments regarding the issuance of fraudulent nursing programs credentialed and approved by various institutions in Florida highlight the dangers presented by this regulatory loophole. “Operation Nightingale” uncovered an alleged scheme involving numerous Florida-based schools that provided more than 7,600 fake diplomas and transcripts to individuals that would eventually go on to seek licensure within the nursing profession in other states, including New York.
Current regulation only requires graduation from a nursing program approved by that other state’s licensing authority. There is no requirement that the nursing program approved by the licensing authority of another state be registered with or be satisfactory to the Department.
This highlights the fact that the Department would benefit from explicit authority to reject an applicant’s education should they determine that an out-of-state program or any part thereof is not satisfactory. The proposed regulatory amendments close the loophole in the educational requirements for nursing by providing that nursing programs approved by another state that are determined not to be satisfactory to the department may not be used by an applicant to satisfy the education requirements for licensure as a nurse in New York.
This amendment will improve the Department’s ability to protect the public by ensuring that RN and LPN licensure applicants, who graduated from out-of-state nursing education programs, meet the same minimum competency for licensure as applicants who received their education from a nursing education program registered with the Department or nursing education programs completed abroad, which have been found satisfactory by the Department. The proposed amendment eliminates the discrepancy in how nursing programs from other states are treated when it comes to meeting the educational requirement for licensure.
The proposed rule updates subdivisions (a) and (b) of section 64.1 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education by: adding language that allows the Department to reject out-of-state nursing programs approved by the licensing authority of another state, if a nursing program or any part thereof is determined not to be satisfactory to the Department.
The earliest effective date of the proposed rule, if adopted at the September meeting, would be September 27, 2023. The emergency rule expired on July 16, 2023, therefore, effective July 17, 2023, to immediately permit the Department to reject out-of-state nursing programs approved in the original jurisdiction if a nursing program is determined not to be satisfactory to the department the emergency action taken at the April meeting remains continuously in effect until the rule can be permanently adopted.
Contact: Carrie Mosley, cmosley@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383 x. 147