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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Gutierrez

DATE TYPED 01/25/05 HB 177

SHORT TITLE Increase Nursing Education Options

SB

ANALYST Woods

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$500.0

Recurring

General

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates SB84

Relates to the appropriation for New Mexico State University in the General Appropriations Act.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Health Policy Commission

Department of Health

New Mexico State University

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 177, Making An Appropriation To Increase The Nursing Education Options In The

State, appropriates $500,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of New Mexico State

University in FY06 to increase the number of nursing options in the state. Any unexpended or unen-

cumbered balance remaining at the end of FY06 shall revert to the general fund.

House Bill 177 -- Page 2

Significant Issues

New Mexico State University (NMSU) indicates the requested funds will increase the number of

nursing education options for New Mexico, thus enabling it to better address the statewide nurs-

ing shortage. The New Mexico Department of Health (DOH) concurs, ading that the fundamen-

tal strategy for addressing the shortage is expansion of nursing education programs. NMSU

notes the funds will be used to support additional faculty positions, distance education technol-

ogy for the Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) option and as start

up funding for a doctoral nursing education option, detailed as follows:

•

The RN to BSN option employs a compressed scheduling format, interactive television,

WebCT enhancement, and local clinical liaisons to make baccalaureate level nursing

education available for registered nurses in New Mexico. It enables registered nurse stu-

dents to complete all upper division nursing courses within a twelve month period.

Through this process, registered nurses are able to increase their level of education while

continuing to work within their home communities. Further, the option serves as a step-

ping stone for many nurses who desire graduate nursing education and may then serve as

nursing faculty in many rural areas of the state.

•

The doctoral nursing option will use funds to establish the NMSU portion of the collabo-

rative Ph.D. in Nursing with the College of Nursing, University of New Mexico. The

collaborative doctorate builds on the strengths of both institutions and limits duplication

while providing future nursing faculty with a broad spectrum of doctoral emphasis areas.

Once established, it is anticipated that 5-8 nursing doctoral students will be admitted an-

nually to NMSU.

The Health Policy Commission notes that NMSU is the only public university providing basic

baccalaureate nursing, RN to BSN, and master level nursing education programs within the

southern region of the state. NMSU delineates program attendance as approximately 325 stu-

dents enrolled in the various nursing programs at any given time. Of this number, a high per-

centage of undergraduate students (>45%) and graduate students (>25%) are Hispanic, American

Indian, and African American.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

DOH notes that HB177 is consistent with the departmental strategic plan in program area nine:

Administration; Strategic Direction: Achieve excellence and accountability in administration and

service. Objective 3: Increase the health workforce supply, in collaboration with other entities in

New Mexico.

NMSU indicates the need for additional nurses as well as more highly educated nurses is particu-

larly critical in the State’s rural areas. Further, that this program builds upon federal start up

funding that clearly demonstrated the feasibility of the RN to BSN option.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $500,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY06 shall revert to the gen-

eral fund.

House Bill 177 -- Page 3

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

NMSU notes that tenure and tenure track faculty lines within the Department of Nursing, Col-

lege of Health & Social Services will need to be permanently increased to sustain increased en-

rollments and outreach efforts with community colleges.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Duplicates SB84.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

This program was included in the NMSU FY05-06 higher education funding request to the

Commission on Higher Education (CHE) as follows:

•

Nursing Expansion (Doctoral Expansion) - $125,000

•

Nursing BSN to MSN - $375,000

However, this program was not included in the CHE FY05-06 funding recommendations.

BFW/lg