Kristin K. Benton, DNP, RN, Selected as New Executive Director of Board of Nursing On July 20, 2023, the Texas Board of Nursing (BON or Board) announced the selection of Kristin K. Benton, DNP, RN, as Executive Director, effective September 1, 2023. Dr. Benton replaced Katherine A. Thomas, MN, RN, FAAN, who retired from her position as Executive Director on August 31, 2023, after serving as Executive Director since November 1995. Dr. Benton served as Director of Nursing for the Texas Board of Nursing from 2013 to 2023. In this role she led policy development and regulatory activities associated with pre-licensure nursing education, advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) licensure, and standards of nursing practice. Before joining Board staff, she taught in the Austin Community College Vocational Nursing Education Program from 2000-2012. In addition, she served on the Board representing vocational nursing education from 2008-2012 and was gubernatorially appointed as Board President
in 2011. Dr. Benton has also served on the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies Task Force on Workplace Violence Against Nurses. Currently she serves on the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) Examination Committee and its International Center for Regulatory Scholarship Advisory Committee. She is a member of the Governor’s State Agency Council. Dr. Benton holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing and was the recipient of the DNP Excellence in Nursing award in 2017. She has authored publications on nursing leadership, nursing regulation, and remediation of nursing practice breakdown. In 2022, she completed the NCSBN International Center for Regulatory Scholarship certificate program. The Board conducted a national search for Ms. Thomas’s replacement with an Executive Committee of five BON Board Members who conducted candidate interviews and made their recommendations for the primary and alternate candidates for the position to the full Board during Executive Session at the July 20, 2023, meeting of the Board of Nursing held at the Barbara Jordan Building in Austin, Texas.
Summary of Actions A regular meeting of the Board of Nursing was held July 20, 2023, in Austin. The following is a summary of Board actions taken during this meeting.
At the April 20, 2023, meeting of the Board of Nursing (BON or Board), amendments were approved to 22 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 214, relating to Vocational Nursing Education, and to 22 Texas Adminis-
trative Code Chapter 215, relating to Professional Nursing Education. The amendments correct outdated references, contain clarifying and editorial changes for better readability, and include a new reference system for
the Board’s educational guidelines for necessary flexibility. Proposed changes to Chapters 214 and 215 were published in the June 30, 2023, edition of the Texas Register.
Nursing Education Actions - July 2023 Board Meeting Reviewed Reports: Five-Year Report on New Nursing Programs and Currently Active Proposals Status Report on Programs with Sanctions Report on Communication Activities with Nursing Education Programs Report of Audit Review of Board-Approved Remedial Education Courses Approved Reports of Survey Findings: •
Cisco College in Abilene – Associate Degree Nursing (ADN)
and Vocational Nursing (VN) Programs • Tarleton State University in Stephenville – Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program Approved Notification of Closure of Programs: •
Central Texas College Military Track in Killeen – VN Program • Oxford Academy in San Antonio – VN Program Approved Proposal to Establish an Apprenticeship Track: 3
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Vernon College in Vernon – VN Program Accepted Notification of Change in Administration: •
Army Practical Nurse Program in San Antonio – VN Program Approved Proposal to Establish a New Nursing Education Program: •
Texas School of Health Sciences in Weslaco – ADN Program
