BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1295
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 21, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Anthony Portantino, Chair
AB 1295 (Fuller) - As Amended: April 16, 2009
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education: nursing degree programs.
SUMMARY : Establishes an articulated transfer pathway for
nursing programs between California Community Colleges (CCC) and
California State University (CSU). Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes various findings and declarations regarding nursing
education in California's public higher education systems,
California's growing demand for nurses in the healthcare
workforce, and the need for a transfer pathway between CCC and
CSU for Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) students to obtain
Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees.
2)Defines an "ADN to BSN student" as a person who has earned an
ADN from a CCC in a program approved by the Board of
Registered Nursing (BRN), is licensed to work in California as
a registered nurse, and is applying to CSU to earn a BSN.
3)Requires the CCC Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) and the CSU
Chancellor's Office to appoint representatives from their
respective institutions to work collaboratively to coordinate
and implement articulated nursing degree transfer pathways
prior to the commencement of the 2012-2013 academic year to
ensure the following:
a) CSU does not require an ADN to BSN student to undertake
coursework for which the content was required by the BRN
for licensure and the student has already satisfied those
requirements by earning the ADN and becoming licensed as a
registered nurse (RN).
b) CSU does not require an ADN to BSN student to take a
nursing prerequisite course if the student has already
taken the same course or course content at CCC.
4)Requires the Legislative Analysts Office (LAO) to report to
the Legislature and the Governor on the status of
implementation plans by March 15, 2011, and provides that this
report may be part of the annual LAO budget report to the
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Legislature.
EXISTING LAW prohibits a campus of CSU or CCC that operates a RN
program from requiring a student who has been admitted to that
nursing program and who has already earned a baccalaureate or
higher degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher
education to take any coursework other than that which is unique
and exclusively required to earn a nursing degree from that
institution.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : California's nursing education programs : There are
four types of prelicensure educational programs: 1) ADN programs
at 2-year colleges, 2) BSN programs at a 4-year university, 3)
accelerated nursing programs at a two-year colleges for
individuals who are already licensed vocational nurses, and 4)
entry-level master's (ELM) programs at a university for students
that already hold a bachelor's or higher degree in a non-nursing
field.
According to the BRN, in 2007-08, California had a total of 131
pre-licensure nursing programs: 84 ADN programs, 32 BSN
programs, and 15 ELM programs. While there has been an increase
in available admission space, nursing programs continue to
receive more applicants than programs can accommodate. In
2007-08, according to BRN, 20,402 qualified applicants (60.7%)
to nursing education programs were not accepted for admission.
Nursing workforce and faculty shortages : The California
Employment Development Department projects that the state will
need approximately 240,000 RNs by 2014. According to 2007
estimates by the LAO, the supply of RNs in 2014 will total only
about 228,000. Further, California is not keeping pace with the
need for nursing faculty. According to BRN, in 2008 there were
170 vacant faculty positions within nursing education programs.
In a 2009 report by the California Postsecondary Education
Commission (CPEC), CPEC concluded that "in the absence of
continuous legislative and institutional intervention, the
demand for services provided by vocational and registered nurses
over the next ten years will greatly outpace the supply of
nurses anticipated to flow from postsecondary degree programs."
Purpose of this bill : According to the author, there are
AB 1295
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significant benefits to the state for increasing the number of
BSN graduates, including responding to industry demand for more
BSN graduates, increasing the number of RNs with broader skills,
and increasing the number of students who will ultimately go on
to complete their masters degrees in nursing and fill nursing
faculty positions. It is estimated that currently only 20% of
CCC ADN students continue on to obtain a BSN. The author notes
that at CSU there is little standardization for recognizing ADN
curriculum content and crediting a RN with an ADN for that
knowledge. The lack of a common transfer pathway results in
students having to take duplicative and/or unnecessary
coursework that prolongs their time to degree and increases
degree costs to both the student and the state. The author
asserts that by streamlining the transfer process for ADN to BSN
students this bill will reduce the time to degree for an ADN to
BSN student by as much as a year, thereby reducing state and
student education costs and ensuring more focused and
appropriate coursework for BSN students.
BSN non-nursing related coursework requirements : According to
information provided by the CCCCO, students who earn an ADN or
BSN must take the same core nursing classes, which are approved
by the BRN, in order to take the RN licensing exam. According
to BRN data, there is little difference between ADN and BSN
students and their ability to pass the RN licensing exam.
According to the CCCCO, the difference in preparation between
the ADN and BSN programs is three upper division nursing
courses, in addition to completing the few remaining general
education unit requirements for the bachelor's degree. CCCCO
notes that although the ADN and BSN students take the same core
nursing curriculum some of the units for the ADN do not transfer
to CSU because the courses are classified as lower division.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Nurses Association/California
Board of Registered Nursing
United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care
Professionals
Opposition
None on file
AB 1295
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Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960