Valued Voice

The Wisconsin Board of Nursing (BON) released their Statement of Scope, the process that allows an agency to open a rule for revisions, this week. This will allow them to begin work on a Chapter N1 rule revisions that BON describes in the scope as “essential for the public welfare by enabling nursing schools to broaden their clinical faculty.” The scope continues, “The expeditious promulgation of this proposed rule directly serves Wisconsin's economic interests and public well-being by alleviating nursing school staffing shortages and reducing barriers to nursing practice.” The rule revision process was initiated by BON at the urging of WHA and a coalition of nursing and employer stakeholders to allow an expanded role for experienced baccalaureate registered nurses (BSNs) as clinical faculty.  

The Governor signed off on the scope in September, starting a 10-day waiting period to allow for comments from the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules. With that waiting period complete, BON begins the implementation phase to work on an emergency rule for this urgently needed change. The emergency rule process could allow for the revisions to be completed and implemented within months, making this new role available to experienced BSNs and allowing nursing schools to work with them to expand nursing school enrollment while a permanent rule change continues through a process that can take a year or more.

On April 1, 2025, WHA and a coalition of nurse employers that included the Medical Group Management Association, Leading Age Wisconsin, the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative and the Wisconsin Organization of Nurse Leaders wrote the following to BON: “We are reaching out with an opportunity for the Board of Nursing to better align state minimum standards for nursing schools to accreditation standards, to break down barriers to individuals wanting to pursue a nursing career, and to offer experienced baccalaureate nurses (BSNs) an opportunity to pursue an expanded role in education.” At the June BON meeting, WHA Senior Vice President of Workforce and Clinical Practice Ann Zenk and nurse leaders from Beloit Health System, Children’s Wisconsin, Emplify Health and SSM Health described their partnerships with nursing schools, the clinical rotations they provide and the key contributions their experienced registered nurses already make to the education of future nurses.

Organizations representing nurses and nursing schools also weighed in on the topic at the June BON meeting. The Administrators of Nursing Education in Wisconsin (ANEW) and the Wisconsin Nurses Association (WNA) noted in their submission to BON, “Allowing BSNs to serve as clinical instructors for all pre-nursing licensed nursing students helps expand clinical teaching capacity without compromising quality.” Adding her support as co-chair of the ANEW legislative committee, Kerri Kliminski, Dean of the School of Nursing at Madison Area Technical College, provided public comment to BON, noting, “Experienced BSN nurses provide exceptional clinical experience for nursing students.”  

Senator Rachael Cabral-Guevara, who is also an advanced practice registered nurse with nurse faculty experience, added her support for the change at the June meeting of the WHA Council on Workforce Development, noting, “A nurse working there with a lot of clinical experience would be very helpful as a clinical instructor.”

WHA attends each BON meeting to monitor the progress on this important rule change, to provide feedback and assistance to the board and to advocate for issues important to hospitals and health systems and the nursing workforce. 

Contact WHA’s Ann Zenk about this or any other workforce topic.