COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 566

(By Senators Jackson and Tomblin)

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[Originating in the Committee on Education;

reported February 19, 1999.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article seven, chapter thirty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to prohibiting the board of examiners of registered professional nurses from promulgating standards for higher education institutions that are more restrictive than the national accrediting bodies.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section five, article seven, chapter thirty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 7. REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL NURSES.

§30-7-5. Schools of nursing; accreditation; standards; surveys and reports; failure to maintain standards.

(a) An institution desiring to be accredited by the board for the preparation of practitioners of registered professional nursing shall file an application therefor with the board, together with the information required and a fee of fifty dollars. It shall submit written evidence that: (a) It is prepared to give a program of nursing education which meets the standards prescribed by the board; and (b) it is prepared to meet all other standards prescribed in this article and by the board.
(b) Instruction and practice may be secured in one or more institutions approved by the board. Such The institution or institutions with which the school is to be affiliated shall be surveyed by the executive secretary of the board, who shall submit a written report of the survey to the board. If, in the opinion of the board, the requirements for an accredited school to prepare practitioners of registered professional nursing are met, it shall approve the school as an accredited school. From time to time as deemed considered necessary by the board, it shall be is the duty of the board, through its executive secretary, to survey all such schools. Written reports of such surveys shall be submitted to the board. If the board determines that any such accredited school is not maintaining the standards required by this article and by the board, notice thereof in writing specifying the defect or defects shall be immediately given to the school. A school which fails to correct these conditions to the satisfaction of the board within a reasonable time shall be removed from the list of accredited schools.
(c) The board shall not promulgate or enforce rules that establish standards for faculty qualifications for institutions under the board of directors of the state college system or under the board of trustees of the state university system that are more restrictive than the standards required by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Institutions of Higher Education.


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(NOTE: Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the code, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.)<<>>