CHAPTER 212
An Act to require the Virginia Community College System to establish a standardized core curriculum for all registered nursing (RN) degree or diploma programs in the Commonwealth, the Passport Nursing Program.
[S 1172]
Approved March 22, 2023
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. That the Virginia Community College System, in collaboration with the Board of Nursing, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), and representatives from for-profit and private not-for-profit institutions offering registered nursing (RN) degree or diploma programs, shall standardize the core curriculum for all RN degree or diploma programs in the Commonwealth, including those offered at hospitals and for-profit institutions, to be called the Passport Nursing Program, for which the RN core curriculum is standardized in name, content, rigor, and credits such that all classes and credits are stackable, transferrable, and universally accepted by all RN degree or diploma programs in the Commonwealth.
2. That the Virginia Community College System, in collaboration with the Board of Nursing, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), the Virginia Nurses Association, and other relevant stakeholders, shall convene a work group, consisting of representatives from the Virginia Community College System, SCHEV, the Board of Nursing, the Virginia Nurses Association, for-profit and private not-for-proft institutions offering registered nursing (RN) education and diploma programs, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA), and Radford University's Nursing Competency Accelerated Pathway (NCAP) program, to develop a system for the standardization of all RN education and diploma programs offered in the Commonwealth, to be called the Passport Nursing Program. The work group shall (i) determine what classes constitute and define the RN core curriculum and (ii) develop a system to standardize the RN core curriculum in name, content, rigor, and credits, including the award of clinical nursing credit hours, opportunity-based and competency-based learning pathways, and fully online learning classes and programs, to ensure that all credits earned toward an RN degree or diploma program are stackable, transferrable, and universally accepted across all such programs. The work group shall submit its report to the Governor, the Chairman of the House Committee on Education, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the Board of Nursing no later than November 1, 2023.