|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the Texas hospital-based nursing education partnership |
|
grant program. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding |
|
Subchapter EE to read as follows: |
|
SUBCHAPTER EE. TEXAS HOSPITAL-BASED NURSING EDUCATION |
|
PARTNERSHIP GRANT PROGRAM |
|
Sec. 61.9751. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: |
|
(1) "Hospital-based nursing education partnership" |
|
means a partnership that: |
|
(A) consists of one or more hospitals in this |
|
state that are not owned, maintained, or operated by the federal or |
|
state government or an agency of the federal or state government and |
|
one or more nursing education programs in this state; and |
|
(B) serves to increase graduation rates for each |
|
nursing education program in the partnership. |
|
(2) "Nursing education program" means an |
|
undergraduate professional nursing program or a graduate |
|
professional nursing program as those terms are defined by Section |
|
54.221. |
|
Sec. 61.9752. PROGRAM: ESTABLISHMENT; ADMINISTRATION; |
|
PURPOSE. (a) The Texas hospital-based nursing education |
|
partnership grant program is established. |
|
(b) The board shall administer the program in accordance |
|
with this subchapter and rules adopted under this subchapter. |
|
(c) Under the program, the board shall make grants to |
|
hospital-based nursing education partnerships to assist those |
|
partnerships to meet the state's needs for registered nurses by |
|
increasing the number of nursing education program graduates |
|
through innovative instruction through collaboration between |
|
hospitals and nursing education programs and the use of the |
|
existing expertise and facilities of those hospitals and programs. |
|
Sec. 61.9753. GRANTS: CONDITIONS; LIMITATIONS. (a) The |
|
board may make a grant under this subchapter to a hospital-based |
|
nursing education partnership only if the board determines that: |
|
(1) the partnership will meet applicable board and |
|
Board of Nurse Examiners standards for instruction and student |
|
competency for the associate, bachelor of science, or master of |
|
science nursing degree granted by each nursing education program |
|
participating in the partnership; |
|
(2) each nursing education program participating in |
|
the partnership will, as a result of the partnership, enroll in the |
|
nursing education program a sufficient number of additional |
|
students as established by the board; |
|
(3) the marginal cost to the state of producing a |
|
graduate of a nursing education program participating in the |
|
partnership will be comparable, as determined under criteria |
|
established by board rule, to the marginal cost to the state of |
|
producing a graduate of a nursing education program not |
|
participating in a partnership; |
|
(4) each hospital participating in a partnership with |
|
a nursing education program will provide to students enrolled in |
|
the program clinical placements that: |
|
(A) allow the students to take part in providing |
|
or to observe, as appropriate, medical services offered by the |
|
hospital; and |
|
(B) meet the clinical education needs of the |
|
students; and |
|
(5) the partnership will satisfy any other requirement |
|
established by board rule. |
|
(b) In establishing the cost-comparison criteria under |
|
Subsection (a)(3), the board shall exclude reasonable development |
|
and initial implementation costs for the infrastructure necessary |
|
to support a hospital-based nursing education partnership. |
|
(c) A grant under this subchapter may be spent only on |
|
costs related to the development or operation of a hospital-based |
|
nursing education partnership that: |
|
(1) prepares a student to earn an associate or |
|
bachelor of science degree in nursing and to achieve initial |
|
licensure as a registered nurse, including by providing an |
|
accelerated program to prepare a student to earn a bachelor of |
|
science degree in nursing; |
|
(2) prepares a student to earn a master of science |
|
degree in nursing with a concentration in education; or |
|
(3) provides an articulation program providing for |
|
advancement from an associate degree to a bachelor of science |
|
degree in nursing or to a master of science degree in nursing with a |
|
concentration in education. |
|
(d) A hospital-based nursing education partnership shall |
|
return to the board money granted to the partnership under this |
|
subchapter that the partnership does not spend on eligible costs |
|
under Subsection (c). As the board determines appropriate to best |
|
achieve the purposes of these programs, the board may: |
|
(1) use the money to make grants to other |
|
hospital-based nursing education partnerships; |
|
(2) use the money to make grants under the |
|
professional nursing shortage reduction program established under |
|
Subchapter Z; or |
|
(3) transfer the money to the permanent fund for |
|
higher education nursing, allied health, and other health-related |
|
programs established under Subchapter C, Chapter 63, for use in |
|
making grants under that subchapter. |
|
Sec. 61.9754. PRIORITY FOR FUNDING. In awarding a grant |
|
under this subchapter, the board shall give priority to a |
|
hospital-based nursing education partnership that submits a |
|
proposal that: |
|
(1) provides for collaborative educational models |
|
between one or more participating hospitals and one or more |
|
participating nursing education programs that have signed a |
|
memorandum of understanding or other written agreement under which |
|
the participants agree to comply with standards established by the |
|
board, including any standards the board may establish that: |
|
(A) provide for program management that offers a |
|
centralized decision-making process allowing for inclusion of each |
|
entity participating in the partnership; |
|
(B) provide for access to clinical training |
|
positions for students in nursing education programs that are not |
|
participating in the partnership; and |
|
(C) specify the details of any requirement |
|
relating to a student in a nursing education program participating |
|
in the partnership being employed after graduation in a hospital |
|
participating in the partnership, including any details relating to |
|
the employment of students who do not complete the program, are not |
|
offered a nursing position at the hospital, or choose to pursue |
|
other employment; |
|
(2) includes a demonstrable education model to: |
|
(A) increase the number of students enrolled in, |
|
the number of students graduating from, and the number of nursing |
|
faculty employed by each nursing education program participating in |
|
the partnership; and |
|
(B) improve student retention in each nursing |
|
education program; |
|
(3) indicates the availability of money to match all |
|
or a portion of the grant money, including matching money from a |
|
hospital, private or nonprofit entity, or institution of higher |
|
education; |
|
(4) can be replicated by other hospital-based nursing |
|
education partnerships or nursing education programs; and |
|
(5) includes plans for sustainability of the |
|
partnership beyond the end of the grant period. |
|
Sec. 61.9755. GRANTS, GIFTS, AND DONATIONS. In addition to |
|
money appropriated by the legislature, the board may solicit, |
|
receive, and spend grants, gifts, and donations from any public or |
|
private source for the purposes of this subchapter. |
|
Sec. 61.9756. RULES. The board shall adopt rules for the |
|
administration of the Texas hospital-based nursing education |
|
partnership grant program. The rules must include: |
|
(1) provisions relating to applying for a grant under |
|
this subchapter; and |
|
(2) standards of accountability to be met by any |
|
hospital-based nursing education partnership awarded a grant under |
|
this subchapter. |
|
Sec. 61.9757. APPROVAL AS NURSING EDUCATION PILOT PROGRAM. |
|
The board and the Board of Nurse Examiners shall establish a single |
|
application process under which a hospital-based nursing education |
|
partnership may apply both for approval as a pilot program under |
|
Section 301.1605, Occupations Code, and for a grant under this |
|
subchapter. |
|
Sec. 61.9758. ANNUAL REPORT. Each hospital-based nursing |
|
education partnership that receives a grant under this subchapter |
|
shall submit to the board an annual report that includes |
|
information required by board rule, including information |
|
concerning the extent to which during the reporting period the |
|
partnership has complied with accountability standards established |
|
by the board. |
|
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date |
|
of this Act, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall |
|
adopt rules for the implementation and administration of the Texas |
|
hospital-based nursing education partnership grant program |
|
established under Subchapter EE, Chapter 61, Education Code, as |
|
added by this Act. |
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2007. |
|
|
|
* * * * * |