To allow a minimum of 2,000 documented hours of practice experience after graduation from an approved program to be substituted for passage of a specialty examination if there is no national examination if an area of practice.

In accordance with Virginia law, the petition to amend the requirements for registration of clinical nurse specialists was posted on the Virginia Regulatory Townhall at www.townhall.virginia.gov.  It has also been filed with the Register of Regulations for publication on February 25, 2013. Comment on the petition from interested parties is requested until March 24, 2013.  

Following receipt of all comments on the petition, the request will be considered by the Board of Nursing at its meeting on May 21, 2013 to decide whether to make any changes to the regulatory language.  

The Board considered all comments on the petition and decided to deny the request for amendments to regulation.  The petitioner's proposal is inconsistent with the Consensus Model for Advanced Practice Nursing, which requires specialty certification by examination.  The Board chose not to depart from nationally recognized standards and adopt a different model for clinical nurse specialists in Virginia.