Sec. 10.27.01.16. Refresher Course and Preceptorship Requirements

A. Refresher courses and preceptor programs, as defined in Regulation .01B of this chapter, shall be approved by the Board before their implementation and at least every 5 years after that.

B. The registered nurse curriculum shall:

(1) Have a minimum of 80 theory hours, 60 clinical hours, and 8 hours of a classroom laboratory training before the on-site clinical experience;

(2) Include the following content areas:

(a) The nursing process;

(b) Management and delegation of patient care;

(c) Documentation and information management;

(d) Pharmacology, including calculation;

(e) Nursing care of patients with alterations in body systems;

(f) Emergency procedures;

(g) Disaster response; and

(h) Professional responsibilities, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

(i) Trends in nursing and the health care system;

(ii) Legal aspects of nursing; and

(iii) Development and initiation of patient and community health education.

C. The practical nurse curriculum shall:

(1) Have a minimum of 60 theory hours, 60 on-site clinical hours, and 8 hours of a classroom laboratory training before the on-site clinical experience;

(2) Include the following content areas:

(a) The nursing process with the licensed practical nurse as a contributor;

(b) Provision and delegation of patient care under the supervision of a registered nurse;

(c) Documentation and information management;

(d) Pharmacology, including calculations;

(e) Nursing care of patients with common health problems;

(f) Emergency procedures;

(g) Disaster response; and

(h) Professional responsibilities, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

(i) Trends in nursing;

(ii) Legal aspects of nursing; and

(iii) Contribution to patient health teaching.

D. The organization and utilization of curriculum materials shall be based on accepted educational principles.

E. Faculty Qualifications.

(1) Faculty shall:

(a) Be a registered nurse as defined in Health Occupations Article, §8-101, Annotated Code of Maryland; and

(b) Have a baccalaureate degree in nursing.

(2) A minimum of 3 years of clinical and teaching experience is recommended.

F. Faculty shall:

(1) Plan, implement, evaluate, and revise the educational program.

(2) Select and evaluate clinical facilities used to achieve program objectives.

(3) Develop and utilize:

(a) Written examinations to measure achievement of program objectives.

(b) An evaluation tool to measure achievement of clinical competencies. The clinical competencies shall be based upon the registered nurse and licensed practical nurse standards of practice.

(c) A mechanism for student evaluation of the course.

G. Students shall complete theoretical instruction either before or concurrent with clinical instruction.

H. All program requirements including required clinical hours shall be completed within 12 months of the starting date of the refresher course.

I. Clinical facilities shall provide sufficient opportunities to meet the learning objectives of the refresher course.

J. The faculty/student ratio may not exceed 1:10 in the clinical area.