Subcommittee approves waiver allowing up to 15 nursing students per clinical faculty in limited circumstances
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Summary
A substitute to House Bill 1860 allowing the Board to waive the current 10-to-1 clinical faculty-to-student ratio and permit up to 15 students per faculty under a waiver process passed the subcommittee 7-0 after stakeholder support including the Virginia Nurses Association and state labor secretary.
The House Health Professions Subcommittee adopted a substitute and voted 7-0 to advance House Bill 1860, which would let the Board waive the existing regulation that limits clinical faculty to supervising 10 students engaged in direct clinical care and permit a ratio of up to 15 students per faculty in specified circumstances.
Sponsor Delegate Price described the substitute as a permissive waiver: education programs may apply for a waiver and must provide evidence that they have an implementation plan, can safely operate at the higher ratio and will maintain patient safety. "Currently the regulations limit the ratio of faculty to students engaged in direct clinical care to 10 students per faculty. This would be so that the board could waive those regulatory requirements to permit a ratio of faculty to students engaged in direct, client care to 15, up to 15, provided that the program did just demonstrate, what I just mentioned," the sponsor said.
Stakeholders including the Virginia Nurses Association, Secretary Brian Slater and a Department special adviser testified in support, saying the change would help address clinical faculty shortages and allow programs to graduate more nurses. Online testimony from an adjunct faculty member at Hampton University said shortages there prevent accommodating students and supported the waiver.
The subcommittee voted to accept the substitute and recorded a 7-0 vote on the measure; the substitute passed before the bill is forwarded to the next committee stage.