Nursing Update

As we await the Florida Board of Nursing’s next move, Florida’s nursing school owners have some decisions to make. You must decide whether to go to court, whether to ask the Florida Legislature for help, whether to try to get a new nursing program before your current program is terminated, or whether to get out of this stressful business until the madness gets sorted out. Some of you may even want to pursue multiple avenues at the same time. Here are some things you should know as you weigh your options:

1. As we informed you earlier this year, attorney Shavon Jones, who won a ruling that the Board was making secret unlawful rules earlier this year, is representing Emergency Education Institute (EEI) in a constitutional challenge to the Florida nursing statute. The case is currently pending before a Florida District Court of Appeal. We should get a decision early next year, and because this is an appellate court, the decision will likely impact other constitutional challenges to the nursing statute that are pending in lower courts even if the issues are slightly different.

2. When you are deciding whether to join a lawsuit be careful about being grouped with other programs or schools whose situation is different from yours. ACEN candidates should not be paired with non-ACEN candidates. Programs on probation should not be paired with programs in good standing. Why? Your interests are not aligned. A settlement that benefits one would not benefit the other. You could be sacrificed for (or held back by) programs that are not in the same situation as yours. For example, many of you were grouped together in a 6-month rule lawsuit last year. Some of you got new programs. Others did not and would not have been saved if EEI’s court ruling had not benefitted you. So, if you are going to go to court, make sure you are part of a case where all members can get the same result.

3. Going to court is only one way to change the law. Another way is through the Legislature. Here’s a quick explanation of how the Legislature, the Board, and the Courts fit together. The Legislature makes the law. And in this case, the law requiring programmatic accreditation is clear on its face. That means the Board of Nursing is legally required to follow it unless and until a court says that the law is wrong. So, while the Board may want to play favorites, it is illegal for the Board to do so. Besides, if you were one of the 30 programs with programmatic accreditation, you’d probably want the law enforced so that you would have fewer competitors.

4. However, I think even the Board of Nursing would agree that 30 nursing programs in the state of Florida is too few. So we need the Legislature to act. The time to start the legislative process is right now. Why? Because the Legislative Session (which takes place each spring) is for voting but the Legislative Agenda (i.e., what they will be voting on) is determined the autumn before the Session. The RegulatorGuards are working with a few legislators and former legislators to get the statute changed next year to give programs enough time to become accredited. I know what you are thinking: “Shavon, I’ll be terminated by then!” Actually, you’ll be in teach out, which means you can be unterminated as easily as you were terminated. So, regardless of which stage of the accreditation or court process you’re in, legislative action will help you. For more information about Legislative Action join us live on TWITTER this Friday at 4pm or click HERE to make sure we have enough funding to fight for you.

5. Of course, the best solution to the problem is to get a new nursing program if possible. We still have a couple available. If interested CALL 786.463.4450 ext. 4 or reply to this email.

We look forward to helping you make the best decision for you and your business.