Commentary

The Kentucky Board of Nursing’s Backpedaling on Bias Training Comes Full Circle

  • By Do No Harm Staff
  • August 9, 2023

In a spectacular turnaround, the Kentucky Board of Nursing (KBN) has quietly rescinded its prior requirements for all nurses in the state to take implicit bias training as a condition of licensure.

The deadline for completing an approved implicit bias course was July 1, 2023. However, according to the KBN website as of July 27, the mandate has been removed. “If you have not obtained the training at this time,” the Continuing Education Competency webpage states, “please note you will no longer be required to do so.”

Figure 1. KBN website as it currently appears.

Do No Harm was the first to report in September 2022 that the KBN was endorsing the course titled Implicit Bias in Healthcare by the Kentucky Nurses Association (KNA) at a cost of $5.00 per KNA member (the non-member price is $35.00 per course). But, as a result of our reporting, a Kentucky-based Do No Harm nurse member’s appeal to the American Nurses Association, and subsequent media attention to the inflammatory and discriminatory nature of the course, the KBN attempted to cover its tracks by scrubbing its website of the KNA recommendation.

Figure 2. Mandatory courses available from the Kentucky Nurses Association as of August 9, 2023.

While Do No Harm applauds the removal of the mandate, we still have some questions. The requirement for this training is outlined in the Kentucky Administrative Regulations. Where did the discussion take place about removing the mandate, and who made that decision? Who is going to refund the money that more than 100,000 RNs, LPNs, and advanced practice nurses with an active Kentucky license would have needed to spend on obtaining this training since June 2022? Where does the money go that is paid to the KNA for this course?

We are asking these questions and monitoring this situation as it evolves.