Title: National Council of State Boards of Nursing

Summary: Requesting the National Council of State Boards of Nursing to develop the National Council Licensure Examination for nurse licensure in Spanish, etc.

Full Text:
WHEREAS, Hispanics and Latinos comprise the second-largest racial and ethnic group in Florida at percent of the population, with more than million residents, and WHEREAS, prior experience and studies have shown that test results on the NCLEX, which is a timed, adaptive test, are lower for testers when English is the tester s second language, and WHEREAS, in 2012, Canada adopted the NCLEX as its licensing examination, even though it was offered only in English, and first-time success rates on the examination for French-Canadian testers fell from percent to percent, and WHEREAS, in 2019, the NCSBN granted Canada s request to prepare and offer the NCLEX in French because French-Canadian students were passing the English-only version of the NCLEX at a lower rate than comparable English-speaking students, and WHEREAS, once the NCLEX was offered in French, the passage rates of French-Canadian speaking students on the nursing exam increased substantially, resulting in more available nurses, and WHEREAS, now the NCLEX is translated in French and offered to meet the needs of French-speaking Canadian NCLEX candidates, and WHEREAS, there are several Florida licensing examinations already offered in Spanish, such as licensure examinations for dental hygienists, real estate agents, certified nursing assistants, construction contractors, food protection managers, cosmetologists, and massage therapists, and WHEREAS, examinations for Florida s driver licenses, Class Edriver licenses, CompTIA certification for IT and cybersecurity professionals, and medical interpreter certification are offered in six languages, including Spanish, and WHEREAS, several Florida licensing entities for Florida professions offer special accommodations for people for whom English is a second language, including, but not limited to, electrical contractors, mental health counselors, psychologists, physicians, optometrists, speech-language pathologists, and chiropractic physicians, and WHEREAS, other states are now offering licensing examinations in Spanish, and WHEREAS, according to the Florida Hospital Association, Florida s nursing shortage is expected to reach 59,000 vacancies by 2035, and WHEREAS, one of the goals of the Florida health care system is to close the gap and increase the supply of available nurses for hospitals and other health care facilities, and WHEREAS, the Legislature has taken steps recently to increase the supply of nurses in Florida with implementation of the LINE Fund under s. 1009.8962, Florida Statutes, and the PIPELINE Fund under s. 1009.897, Florida Statutes, to assist nursing students and nursing programs through funding mechanisms, NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida: That the Senate recognizes that with a significant nursing shortage in Florida, steps need to be taken to ensure that nursing students graduating from Florida nursing programs have the best chance possible to pass the NCLEX and work as nurses in Florida. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate requests the National Council of State Boards of Nursing to replicate its success in adapting the NCLEX for French-Canadian NCLEX candidates and produce and distribute an NCLEX examination in Florida, along with test materials, in Spanish.