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SB 254FLORIDA · STATEWIDESession 2026dead
High Impact

Proposed Changes to Florida Nursing Education and Licensing

Original title: Nursing Education Programs

March 13, 2026

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The Frame

What this does

The bill changes the path to licensure for new nurses and increases the regulatory burden on nursing schools, potentially affecting the availability of nursing programs and the speed at which graduates can enter the workforce.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Nursing students and graduates

They face new remedial course requirements and gain access to temporary provisional licenses.

Nursing education programs

They must comply with stricter reporting, inspection, and passage rate requirements or face termination.

Board of Nursing

They are granted new rulemaking and enforcement powers over nursing programs.

What changed

Last recorded activity March 13, 2026.

What's next

Introduced.

Background

  • The Florida Board of Nursing is the state agency responsible for licensing nurses and approving nursing education programs to ensure they meet state standards. context

Summary

This bill introduces new requirements for nursing graduates taking licensing exams, creates a temporary provisional license for new nurses, and tightens oversight of nursing education programs. It mandates remedial courses for delayed test-takers and establishes stricter accountability for programs with low student passage rates on national exams.

Key Facts

You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a temporary provisional license?
It is a nonrenewable license valid for up to 180 days that allows a graduate nurse to practice under the of a licensed nurse while awaiting exam results.
What happens if a nursing program has low passage rates?
If a program's passage rate is more than 10 percentage points below the national average for two consecutive years, it is placed on probation and must submit a remediation plan; failure to improve can lead to program termination.
Are remedial courses free?
The board must make the remedial course available on its website free of charge to applicants experiencing hardship.

Why It Matters

The bill changes the path to licensure for new nurses and increases the regulatory burden on nursing schools, potentially affecting the availability of nursing programs and the speed at which graduates can enter the workforce.

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Lobbying Activity

AARP

$4,110,000

2026

HEALTH ISSUESMEDICARE/MEDICAIDLAW ENFORCEMENT/CRIME/CRIMINAL JUSTICEPHARMACY

P.L. 119-21, One Big Beautiful Bill Act H.R. 8867, Planning for Long-term Aging Needs (PLAN) Act H.R. 5861, Legacy Act of 2025 H.R. 9393, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act. H.R. 9396, the Prior Authorization Accountability Act. S. 4916, the Aging with Artificial Intelligence Act. H.R. 8100, Safe Staffing Saves Lives Act. S. 3886, Nurses Belong in Nursing Homes Act. H.R. 6766/S. 3492, the Essential Caregivers Act of 2025. H.R. 7966/S. 4118, Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act. S. 2120, the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2025 H.R. 5575, the Firefighters Assisting Seniors to Emergency Response (FASTER) Act of 2025. H.R. 3954/S. 4641, Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act. H.R.5554/S.2831, Stand Strong for Medicare Act. S. 3439/H.R. 6735, Connecting Caregivers to Medicare Act and efforts related to the bill S. 1227/H.R. 2491, Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers Act S. 668/H.R. 3183, Supporting Access to Falls Education and Prevention and Strengthening Training Efforts and Promoting Safety Initiatives (SAFE STEPS) for Veterans Act of 2025 CMS-1851-P, Hospice Proposed rule. CMS-1843-P, Skilled Nursing Facility Proposed rule. CMS-1844-P, Home Health Proposed rule. No bill number. Health care transparency. No bill number. Discussed use of artificial intelligence and health data technology. No bill number. Discussed health-related policies and activities around the fall respiratory virus season. No bill number. Discussed health insurance affordability proposals. No bill number. Discussed Nursing Home staffing standards, safety, and quality. No bill number. Discussed Nursing home transparency and ownership requirements. No bill number. Discussed home health, hospice, and long-term care. No bill number. Discussed falls prevention. No bill number. Discussed social isolation. No bill number. Discussed HUD Assisted Living Requirements No bill number. Discussed family caregiving. No bill number. Discussed AARP paper on Medicare Caregiver Training Services. No bill number. Discussed Medicaid community engagement interim final rule, including the family caregiver exemption. No bill number. Discussed the paid direct care workforce in long-term care. No bill number. Discussed the unaffordability of long-term care. No bill number. Discussed Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration Program and Medicaid HCBS spousal impoverishment protections. No bill number. Discussed Medicaid fraud and family caregivers, Medicaid self-direction programs. No bill number. Discussed sandwich generation family caregiver hearing and submitted a statement for the record discussing family caregivers and sandwich generation caregivers, programs that support them, AARP caregiving resources, and federal policies to support sandwich generation caregivers and caregivers more broadly. No bill number. Discussed long-term care. No bill number. CMS-2453-NC; Medicaid Program; 2028 Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Quality Measure Set Submitted comments No bill number. Discussed expanding access to home care. No bill number. Discussed the increasing cost of home care No bill number. Discussed HSA use for telehealth chronic care management services/subscriptions. No bill number. Discussed artificial intelligence and technology

WHEAT SHROYER GOVERNMENT RELATIONS LLC

on behalf of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSE ANESTHETISTS

Voting Record

Sponsors

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Increased Oversight

The bill shifts from a model of accreditation-based oversight to more direct, state-level enforcement through onsite inspections and mandatory passage rate reporting.

Connected Entities

Sources

Open source document

openstates.org

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance85
    How much this matters to a regular citizen
  • Controversy40
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment10
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz20
    Current news / social attention level

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