Initiatives

Nursing Clinical Placements Collaborative

Overview

The Nursing Clinical Placements Collaborative program was established by AB 1577 (Chapter 415, Statutes of 2024) to increase transparency around clinical training opportunities for nursing students. The law supports California’s goal of expanding the nursing workforce by identifying barriers that limit clinical placement availability for students in CCC and CSU nursing programs.

HCAI will publish information on submitted clinical justifications to support statewide understanding of clinical placement capacity and related barriers.

Clinical Placements Justifications

Effective January 1, 2025, health facilities and clinics in California are required, upon request from a California Community College or California State University with an approved nursing program, to meet and work in good faith to support prelicensure nursing clinical placement needs, including consideration of additional placement slots. Following that meeting, a health facility or clinic must provide a justification if it cannot accommodate additional placement slots.

Justifications for denied or unmet clinical placement requests in a given calendar year must be submitted through the Board of Registered Nursing’s (BRN) Clinical Facility Authorization (CFA) process by January 30 of the following year. Facilities and clinics should continue to respond to clinical placement requests through their existing processes, while ensuring that required justifications are documented and submitted through the CFA system.

Reporting Requirements

  • Beginning January 1, 2025, health facilities and clinics must meet with CCC or CSU nursing programs upon request to discuss clinical placement needs.
  • If a facility or clinic is unable to accommodate requested placements in a given year, it must submit a justification through the BRN’s CFA process by January 30 of the following year.
  • Justifications must include the reason(s) for declining or limiting placements, such as staffing shortages, patient volume, service limitations, or scheduling constraints.
  • Facilities and clinics that fail to submit the required justification for the prior calendar year by the January 30 deadline shall be subject to an administrative penalty of up to $1,000.
  • Submitted justifications will be posted on HCAI’s website through January 1, 2032, in accordance with statute.

Resources