§ 2736.5

(a) (1) The board shall adopt regulations to require that, on and after January 1, 2022, all continuing education courses for licensees under this chapter contain curriculum that includes the understanding of implicit bias.

(2) Beginning January 1, 2023, continuing education providers shall ensure compliance with paragraph (1). Beginning January 1, 2023, the board shall audit continuing education providers, pursuant to Section 2811.5.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a), a continuing education course dedicated solely to research or other issues that does not include a direct patient care component is not required to contain curriculum that includes implicit bias in the practice of nursing.

(c) In order to satisfy the requirements of subdivision (a), continuing education courses shall address at least one or a combination of the following:

(1) Examples of how implicit bias affects perceptions and treatment decisions of licensees, leading to disparities in health outcomes.

(2) Strategies to address how unintended biases in decisionmaking may contribute to health care disparities by shaping behavior and producing differences in medical treatment along lines of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics.

(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 417, Sec. 3. (AB 241) Effective January 1, 2020.)