by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix
May 7, 2025

The Florida Legislature passed a bill at the 11th hour of its regular session that could shutter low-performing nursing schools in an attempt to improve the state’s standing on the national nursing exam.

Before the legislative session started, lawmakers sought answers from nursing school administrators about why Florida has the worst passing rate on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX).

A proposal creating harsher penalties for nursing programs seemed unlikely to pass until the House inserted it into another bill before the clock struck midnight on May 2, the deadline to take up policy bills.

If DeSantis signs HB 1427, nursing schools with passage rates 10 percentage points below the national average would end up on probation, and they would have two years to improve the scores before getting shut down.

Although Florida’s NCLEX passing rates are the highest they’ve been in a decade, the 2024 rates for registered nurses and practical nurses to get their licenses (84.9% and 80.78%, respectively) are well under the national average, which was 91.16% for RNs and 88.38% for PNs, according to the annual report from the Florida Center for Nursing.

“Members, this is a great bill that will set us up to allow for nursing education to be the number one in the state of Florida, whereas now, we are number 50,” said Palm City Republican Rep. Toby Overdorf on the House floor Friday. “This is where we need to be working hard and getting to that new level of nursing.”

The Florida Board of Nursing placed 16 programs on probation in 2024, nine of which were for-profit private institutions, according to the Florida Department of Health. The board terminated four programs last year.

Additionally, nursing program directors who fail to submit annual reports by Nov. 1 detailing their number of applicants, retention rates, accreditation status, and scores for a newly required exit exam could face disciplinary actions, including revocation of their nursing license and fines up to $10,000.

“I’m worried that we’re gonna be negatively impacting people from applying to be nursing directors here in the state,” said Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman. Five senators voted against the bill, with Sarasota Republican Sen. Joe Gruters joining Democrats.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

The article covers a legislative action led by Florida Republicans aimed at improving nursing education standards, a typical policy emphasis for conservative lawmakers focusing on accountability and performance metrics. The inclusion of critical perspectives from Democratic lawmakers and acknowledgment of bipartisan opposition adds balanced viewpoints, but the overall framing leans towards support of regulatory measures favored by the Republican majority. The tone is generally factual with subtle emphasis on the legislative push by GOP members, situating the article in a center-right context.