Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1000-01-.11 - CRITERIA FOR SCHOOLS OF NURSING
The organization and administration of the
(1) Educational Resources
(a) Library - A well-organized and up-to-date
library should be provided for the use of students and faculty.
(b) Clinical Facilities
1. The clinical facilities shall be selected
on the basis of adequacy for student learning experiences:
(i) The nursing faculty shall select
facilities which permit them to conduct a program in keeping with their
philosophy and educational objectives.
(ii) Facilities selected for clinical
experiences shall be appropriate to the learning objectives.
(iii) The school of nursing shall establish
formal relationships with the clinical facilities, evidenced by a written
agreement :
(I) The written agreements shall
clearly define the responsibilities of the school of nursing and the clinical
facilities.
(II) The written
agreements shall be approved by the appropriate administrative officers of both
the school of nursing and clinical facility.
(2) Curriculum
(a) The curriculum of a school of nursing
program shall enable the student to develop the nursing knowledge, skills and
competencies necessary for the level, scope and standards of nursing practice
consistent with the level of licensure/certification. From time to time the
curriculum shall be revised as necessary to maintain a program that reflects
advances in healthcare and its delivery.
(b) The curriculum , as defined by nursing
education, professional and practice standards shall include at a minimum the
following:
1. Experiences that promote the
development and subsequent demonstration of evidence-based clinical judgment,
skill in clinical management, and the professional commitment to collaborate in
continuously improving the quality and safety of the healthcare system for
patients.
2. Evidence-based
learning experiences and methods of instruction, consistent with the curriculum
plan.
3. Coursework including, but
not limited to:
(i) Content in the biological,
physical, social and behavioral sciences to provide a foundation for safe and
effective nursing practice;
(ii)
Content regarding professional responsibilities, legal and ethical issues,
history and trends in nursing and healthcare;
(iii) Didactic content and supervised
clinical experience in the prevention of illness and the promotion, restoration
and maintenance of health from diverse cultural, ethnic, social and economic
backgrounds. Patient experiences will occur in a variety of clinical settings
and will include:
(I) Integrating patient
safety principles throughout the didactic and clinical coursework.
(II) Implementing evidence-based practice to
integrate best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values for
optimal care, including skills to identify and apply best practices to nursing
care.
(III) Providing
patient-centered, culturally competent care that recognizes that the patient or
designee is the source of control and full partner in providing coordinated
care by:
I. Respecting patient differences,
values, preferences and expressed needs.
II. Involving patients/designees in
decision-making and care management.
III. Coordinating and managing patient care
across settings.
IV. Explaining
appropriate and accessible interventions to patients and populations that may
positively affect their ability to achieve healthy lifestyles.
(IV) Collaborating within
inter-professional teams to foster open communication, mutual respect, and
shared decision-making in order to achieve quality patient care.
(V) Participating in quality improvement
processes to monitor patient care outcomes, identify possibility of hazards and
errors, and collaborate in the development and testing of changes that improve
the quality and safety of healthcare systems.
(VI) Using information technology to
communicate, mitigate error and support decision-making.
(iv) Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
education shall be congruent with national standards for graduate level and
advanced practice registered nursing education, and consistent with nationally
recognized advanced practice registered nurse roles and specialties and
include:
(I) Clinical and didactic coursework
comprehensive and sufficient to prepare the graduate to obtain national
certification for licensure in and practice in the Advanced Practice Registered
Nurse role/category and population focus .
(II) The curriculum of the APRN nursing
education program must prepare the graduate to practice in one of the four
identified APRN roles/categories, i.e., nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist,
nurse midwife and clinical nurse specialist, and at least one of the six
population foci, i.e., family/individual across the lifespan,
adult-gerontology, neonatal, pediatrics, women's health/gender-related or
psychiatric/mental health. The curriculum shall include:
I. Three separate graduate level courses (the
APRN core) in:
A. Advanced physiology and
pathophysiology, including general principles that apply across the
lifespan;
B. Advanced health
assessment, which includes assessment of all human systems, advanced assessment
techniques, concepts and approaches; and
C. Advanced pharmacology, which includes
pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics and pharmacotherapeutics of all broad
categories of agents.
II. Diagnosis and management of diseases
across practice settings including diseases representative of all
systems.
III. Preparation that
provides a basic understanding of the principles for decision-making in the
identified role.
IV. Preparation in
the core competencies for the identified APRN role.
A. Role/category preparation in one of the
six population foci of practice.
B.
An advanced practice registered nursing core, including legal, ethical and
professional responsibilities of the advanced practice registered
nurse;
(v) Practical nursing education shall
include:
(I) Sufficient classroom instruction
to comply with the requirements of Rule 1000-01-.11 (2)(a) and (b):
(II) Clinical experience:
I. Medical-Surgical Nursing - 325 contact
hours
II. Maternal and Infant Care -
35 contact hours
III. Pediatric
Nursing - 35 contact hours
IV.
Behavioral/Mental Health Nursing - 35 contact hours
(III) For public institutions of higher
education, a total minimum of one thousand two hundred ninety-six (1296)
contact hours or an equivalent number of credit hours.
(c) Major Curriculum
Change - Any major change to school of nursing 's curriculum must be presented
to the Board for approval prior to implementation and may require a survey
visit.
(3) Clinical
Practice - Faculty supervised clinical practice shall include development of
skills in direct patient care; making clinical judgments; care and management
of both individuals and groups of patients across the lifespan, and delegation
to and supervision of, as appropriate to level of education, other health care
providers.
(a) Clinical experience shall be
comprised of sufficient hours to meet Board standards and be supervised by
qualified faculty and ensure students' ability to practice.
(b) Students must observe effective clinical
practice and must have an opportunity to practice clinically. Effective
clinical practice includes: use of opportunities to preserve and to teach
health, prevention of illness, and care for the emotional, spiritual, social,
and physical needs of patients.
(c)
Facilities selected for clinical experience shall include sufficient rotations
in acute care settings that are licensed for a minimum of 100 beds.
(d) All student clinical experiences,
including those with preceptors, shall be directed by nursing
faculty .
(e) Measurement of
students' competencies shall focus on the students' demonstration of care
management and decision-making skills when providing patient care in a variety
of clinical situations and care settings.
(f) Delivery of instruction by distance
education methods must be consistent with the program curriculum plan and
enable students to meet the goals, competencies and outcomes of the educational
program and Board standards.
(4) Students
(a) Students shall have at least a high
school diploma or its equivalent.
(b) Students shall be provided with the
opportunity to acquire and demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities
required for safe and effective nursing practice, in theory and clinical
experience, through faculty supervision and appropriate advisement.
(c) All policies relevant to applicants and
students shall be readily available to applicants, students and the
Board .
(d) Students shall meet
health standards and criminal background check requirements. Background checks
shall include a search of abuse and sex offender registries as well as
Nursys.com©.
(e) Students
shall be held accountable for professional behavior, including honesty and
integrity while in their program of study.
(f) Each student enrolled in an advanced
practice registered nurse program shall, prior to enrollment as an advanced
practice registered nurse student, hold a current, active and unencumbered
Tennessee registered nurse license or the multistate licensure privilege to
practice as a registered nurse in Tennessee. The school shall participate in
the Nursys.com e-Notify© program that provides continuous feedback of
students' licensure status.
(5) Director Responsibilities and
Qualifications
(a) Director Responsibilities -
Each school of nursing shall have a director who is employed full-time for
school administrative purposes. For the purpose of this rule, "fulltime" means
that at least eighty percent (80%) of the director 's employment time is devoted
to school of nursing program administrative duties.
(b) Director Qualifications
1. Qualifications in a program preparing for
Licensed Practical Nurse licensure shall include:
(i) A current, active and unencumbered
Tennessee Registered Nurse license or multistate licensure privilege to
practice as a registered nurse in Tennessee. The school shall participate in
the Nursys.com e-Notify© program that provides continuous feedback of
directors' licensure status;
(ii) A
minimum of a bachelor's degree in nursing;
(iii) Experience in teaching and knowledge of
learning principles for adult education, including nursing curriculum
development, administration and evaluation; and
(iv) A current knowledge of practical nursing
practice.
2.
Qualifications in a program preparing for Registered Nurse licensure shall
include:
(i) A current, active and
unencumbered Tennessee Registered Nurse license or the multistate licensure
privilege to practice as a registered nurse in Tennessee. The school shall
participate in the Nursys.com e-Notify© program that provides continuous
feedback of directors' licensure status;
(ii) A master's degree in nursing;
(iii) Educational preparation or experience
in teaching and knowledge of learning principles for adult education, including
nursing curriculum development, administration and evaluation; and
(iv) A current knowledge of registered
nursing practice.
3.
Qualifications in a program preparing for Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
licensure shall include:
(i) A current, active
and unencumbered Tennessee Registered Nurse license or the multistate licensure
privilege to practice as a registered nurse in Tennessee;
(ii) A master's degree in nursing;
(iii) Educational preparation or experience
in teaching and knowledge of learning principles for adult education, including
nursing curriculum development, administration and evaluation; and
(iv) A current knowledge of advanced nursing
practice.
(6) Faculty
(a) General Requirements
1. Each school shall have a number of
qualified full-time faculty members that is sufficient to meet the objectives
and purposes of the nursing education program. There shall be at least one
instructor in each clinical specialty and major teaching area.
2. Each nurse member of the faculty shall
hold a current, active and unencumbered Tennessee Registered Nurse license or
the multistate licensure privilege to practice as a registered nurse in
Tennessee. The school shall participate in the Nursys.com e-Notify©
program that provides continuous feedback of faculty and preceptors' licensure
status.
3. The clinical faculty to
student ratio must support the standards for quality teaching and patient
safety. In the case of training of practical nurses by schools of nursing, the
faculty to student ratio shall not exceed 1:12, provided that two (2) of the
twelve (12) students are in an observational capacity only.
4. The faculty as a group shall have clinical
specialization and expertise in all clinical specialties of the
curriculum .
5. The lead instructor
shall have clinical specialization and expertise in the course the instructor
is teaching.
6. Courses in which
the content is primarily nursing must be taught by professional
nurses.
7. Interdisciplinary
(non-nurse) faculty members shall have advanced preparation appropriate to the
subject matter which they teach.
(b) Preceptors - Preceptors may be used to
enhance faculty-directed clinical learning experiences, provided that
preceptors are used only as an adjunct to faculty-directed clinical learning
experiences and not as a substitute for regular clinical faculty members.
Clinical preceptors must possess and be able to demonstrate competencies
related to the clinical areas for which they have teaching responsibilities,
and they are also expected to serve as role models to the students. Clinical
preceptors shall have an unencumbered license to practice as a nurse at or
above the level for which the student is being prepared, in the jurisdiction
where they are precepting students. The school shall participate in the
Nursys.com e-Notify© program that provides continuous feedback of
preceptors' licensure status.
(c)
LPN Program Faculty - Qualifications for nursing faculty who teach in a program
leading to licensure as a Licensed Practical Nurse shall include at a minimum:
1. Three (3) years of clinical experience as
a Registered Nurse within the last five (5) years; or
2. Two (2) years of clinical practice as a
registered nurse and twenty-four (24) semester hours or equivalent toward a
higher degree in nursing; and
3.
Current knowledge of Licensed Practical Nurse practice; and
4. Clinical faculty may work in collaboration
with the school of nursing in implementation of the clinical component of the
curriculum . Qualifications for nursing faculty whose only responsibility is the
supervision of students in clinical practice in a program leading to licensure
as a practical nurse shall include at a minimum:
(i) Three (3) years of clinical experience as
a Registered Nurse within the last five (5) years; or
(ii) Two (2) years of clinical practice as a
registered nurse and twenty-four (24) semester hours or equivalent toward a
higher degree in nursing; and
(iii)
Current knowledge of Licensed Practical Nurse practice.
(d) RN Program Faculty - There
shall be at least one nursing faculty member with advanced preparation in each
clinical and major teaching area who is primarily responsible for the theory
and clinical nursing practice. Otherwise, qualifications for nursing faculty
who teach didactic content and who develop and evaluate the curriculum in a
program leading to licensure as a Registered Nurse include at a minimum:
1. A master's degree or higher in nursing is
recommended; and
2. Sufficient
nursing experience to demonstrate professional competence; and
3. Current knowledge of Registered Nurse
practice.
4. In addition to nursing
faculty who teach didactic content, a program leading to licensure as a
Registered Nurse may utilize adjunct clinical faculty. Such adjunct clinical
faculty shall be responsible only for supervising students in clinical
practice, and they shall not be responsible for developing or evaluating the
program's curriculum . Qualifications for adjunct clinical faculty in a program
leading to licensure as a registered nurse include at a minimum:
(i) A master's degree or higher in nursing is
recommended; and
(ii) Current
knowledge of Registered Nurse practice and sufficient nursing experience to
demonstrate professional competence; and
(iii) If a less qualified adjunct faculty
member is employed because a qualified candidate is not available, such adjunct
faculty member shall function as an assistant under the direct guidance of a
faculty member fully qualified in the specific clinical area.
(e) APRN Program
Faculty - Qualifications for nursing faculty who teach in a specialty-specific
course leading to certification as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
include at a minimum:
1. A master's degree or
higher in nursing with a focus on a related clinical specialty or in the
specified Advanced Practice Registered Nurse role/category is recommended;
and
2. A certificate to practice as
an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse if teaching an advanced practice
specialty course ; and
3. Current
knowledge of Advanced Practice Registered Nurse practice; and
4. Clinical supervision must be congruent
with current national-specialty-organization and nursing-accrediting-body
standards applicable to the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse role and
specialty.
Notes
Authority: T.C.A. §§ 63-7-117, 63-7-118, 63-7-119, and 63-7-207.
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