The bill aims to establish a statewide core curriculum for practical nursing programs in Arkansas to enhance consistency in nursing education across institutions. It introduces a new section to the Arkansas Code, specifically 6-61-144, which outlines the necessity for a standardized curriculum due to existing discrepancies in clinical hours, class hours, and credit hours among different programs. The bill mandates that by the 2029-2030 academic year, all practical nursing programs must adopt this core curriculum developed by the Nurse Administrators of Nursing Education Programs, which will consist of 44 credit hours and allow programs to determine the distribution of didactic, laboratory, and clinical hours.

Additionally, the bill amends Arkansas Code 17-87-304(a)(2) to specify that applicants for a practical nursing license must complete a curriculum as outlined in the new section 6-61-144. However, it allows the board to waive this requirement if the applicant is deemed otherwise qualified. The bill also includes a multi-phase adoption plan starting in the 2025-2026 academic year, where a select group of programs will pilot the new curriculum, with provisions for ongoing evaluation and adjustments based on feedback from the Nurse Administrators and the board.

Statutes affected:
HB 1566: 17-87-304(a)