1. (a) In all cases faculty shall be responsible and accountable for managing clinical learning experiences and observational experiences of students.
2. (b) Faculty shall develop criteria for the selection of affiliate agencies or clinical practice settings which address safety and the need for students to achieve the program outcomes (goals) through the practice of nursing care or observational experiences.

3. (c) Faculty shall select and evaluate affiliate agencies or clinical practice settings which provide students with opportunities to achieve the goals of the program.

   1. (1) Written agreements between the program and the affiliate agencies shall specify the responsibilities of the program to the agency and the responsibilities of the agency to the program.
   2. (2) Agreements shall be reviewed periodically and include provisions for adequate notice of termination.

4. (d) The faculty member shall be responsible for the supervision of students in clinical learning experiences.

   1. (1) When a faculty member is the only person officially responsible for a clinical group, then the group may total no more than ten students. Patient safety shall be a priority and may mandate ratios as low as one faculty member to six students. The faculty member must supervise that group in only one facility at a time, unless some portion or all of the clinical group are assigned to observational experiences in additional settings.

   2. (2) Direct faculty supervision is not required for an observational experience.

      1. (A) Observational experiences may be used to supplement, but not replace patient care experiences, and must serve the purpose of student attainment of clinical objectives.
      2. (B) Observational experiences should comprise no more than 20% of the clinical contact hours for a course and no more than 10% of the clinical contact hours for the program-of-study.

5. (e) Faculty may use clinical preceptors or clinical teaching assistants to enhance clinical learning experiences and to assist faculty in the clinical supervision of students.

   1. (1) Faculty shall develop written criteria for the selection of clinical preceptors and clinical teaching assistants.
   2. (2) When clinical preceptors or clinical teaching assistants are used, written agreements between the professional nursing program, clinical preceptor or clinical teaching assistant, and the affiliating agency, when applicable, shall delineate the functions and responsibilities of the parties involved.
   3. (3) Faculty shall be readily available to students and clinical preceptors or clinical teaching assistants during clinical learning experiences.
   4. (4) The designated faculty member shall meet periodically with the clinical preceptors or clinical teaching assistants and student(s) for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating learning experiences.
   5. (5) Written clinical objectives shall be shared with the clinical preceptors or clinical teaching assistants prior to or concurrent with the experience.

6. (f) Clinical preceptors may be used to enhance clinical learning experiences after a student has received clinical and didactic instruction in all basic areas of nursing or within a course after a student has received clinical and didactic instruction in the basic areas of nursing for that course or specific learning experience.

   1. (1) In courses which use clinical preceptors for a portion of clinical learning experiences, faculty shall have no more than 12 students in a clinical group.
   2. (2) In a course which uses clinical preceptors as the sole method of student instruction and supervision in clinical settings, faculty shall coordinate the preceptorships for no more than 24 students.
   3. (3) The preceptor may supervise student clinical learning experiences without the physical presence of the faculty member in the affiliate agency or clinical practice setting.
   4. (4) The preceptor shall be responsible for the clinical learning experiences of no more than two students per clinical day.

   5. (5) Clinical preceptors shall have the following qualifications:

      1. (A) competence in designated area of practice;
      2. (B) philosophy of health care congruent with that of the nursing program; and
      3. (C) current licensure or privilege as a registered nurse in the State of Texas; or
      4. (D) if not a registered nurse, a current license in Texas as a health care professional with a minimum of a bachelor's degree in that field.

7. (g) Clinical teaching assistants may assist qualified, experienced faculty with clinical learning experiences.

   1. (1) In clinical learning experiences where a faculty member is supported by a clinical teaching assistant, the ratio of faculty to students shall not exceed 2:15 (faculty plus clinical teaching assistant: student).
   2. (2) Clinical teaching assistants shall supervise student clinical learning experiences only when the qualified and experienced faculty member is physically present in the affiliate agency or alternative practice setting.
   3. (3) When acting as a clinical teaching assistant, the RN shall not be responsible for other staff duties, such as supervising other personnel and/or patient care.

   4. (4) Clinical teaching assistants shall meet the following criteria:

      1. (A) hold a current license or privilege to practice as a registered nurse in the State of Texas;
      2. (B) hold a bachelor's degree in nursing from an accredited baccalaureate program in nursing; and
      3. (C) have the clinical expertise to function effectively and safely in the designated area of teaching.

Source Note:The provisions of this §215.10 adopted to be effective August 17, 2003, 28 TexReg 6540.