Bill Text: FL S0672 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced

Florida Senate Resolution 672 (Prefiled Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: National Council of State Boards of Nursing

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-12 - Filed [S0672 Detail]

Download: Florida-2025-S0672-Introduced.html

       Florida Senate - 2025                             (NP)    SR 672
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       40-01346-25                                            2025672__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution requesting the National Council of State
    3         Boards of Nursing to develop the National Council
    4         Licensure Examination for nurse licensure in Spanish.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing
    7  (NCSBN) develops and distributes the National Council Licensure
    8  Examination (NCLEX) to Florida and other states in the United
    9  States, and
   10         WHEREAS, Hispanics and Latinos comprise the second-largest
   11  racial and ethnic group in Florida at 26 percent of the
   12  population, with more than 5 million residents, and
   13         WHEREAS, prior experience and studies have shown that test
   14  results on the NCLEX, which is a timed, adaptive test, are lower
   15  for testers when English is the tester’s second language, and
   16         WHEREAS, in 2012, Canada adopted the NCLEX as its licensing
   17  examination, even though it was offered only in English, and
   18  first-time success rates on the examination for French-Canadian
   19  testers fell from 91 percent to 32 percent, and
   20         WHEREAS, in 2019, the NCSBN granted Canada’s request to
   21  prepare and offer the NCLEX in French because French-Canadian
   22  students were passing the English-only version of the NCLEX at a
   23  lower rate than comparable English-speaking students, and
   24         WHEREAS, once the NCLEX was offered in French, the passage
   25  rates of French-Canadian speaking students on the nursing exam
   26  increased substantially, resulting in more available nurses, and
   27         WHEREAS, now the NCLEX is translated in French and offered
   28  to meet the needs of French-speaking Canadian NCLEX candidates,
   29  and
   30         WHEREAS, there are several Florida licensing examinations
   31  already offered in Spanish, such as licensure examinations for
   32  dental hygienists, real estate agents, certified nursing
   33  assistants, construction contractors, food protection managers,
   34  cosmetologists, and massage therapists, and
   35         WHEREAS, examinations for Florida’s driver licenses, Class
   36  E driver licenses, CompTIA certification for IT and
   37  cybersecurity professionals, and medical interpreter
   38  certification are offered in six languages, including Spanish,
   39  and
   40         WHEREAS, several Florida licensing entities for Florida
   41  professions offer special accommodations for people for whom
   42  English is a second language, including, but not limited to,
   43  electrical contractors, mental health counselors, psychologists,
   44  physicians, optometrists, speech-language pathologists, and
   45  chiropractic physicians, and
   46         WHEREAS, other states are now offering licensing
   47  examinations in Spanish, and
   48         WHEREAS, according to the Florida Hospital Association,
   49  Florida’s nursing shortage is expected to reach 59,000 vacancies
   50  by 2035, and
   51         WHEREAS, one of the goals of the Florida health care system
   52  is to close the gap and increase the supply of available nurses
   53  for hospitals and other health care facilities, and
   54         WHEREAS, the Legislature has taken steps recently to
   55  increase the supply of nurses in Florida with implementation of
   56  the LINE Fund under s. 1009.8962, Florida Statutes, and the
   57  PIPELINE Fund under s. 1009.897, Florida Statutes, to assist
   58  nursing students and nursing programs through funding
   59  mechanisms, NOW, THEREFORE,
   60  
   61  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   62  
   63         That the Senate recognizes that with a significant nursing
   64  shortage in Florida, steps need to be taken to ensure that
   65  nursing students graduating from Florida nursing programs have
   66  the best chance possible to pass the NCLEX and work as nurses in
   67  Florida.
   68         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate requests the
   69  National Council of State Boards of Nursing to replicate its
   70  success in adapting the NCLEX for French-Canadian NCLEX
   71  candidates and produce and distribute an NCLEX examination in
   72  Florida, along with test materials, in Spanish.