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KSTAR Nursing FAQs

KSTAR stands for Knowledge, Skills, Training, Assessment and Research. It is a program that uses individualized competency assessments and targeted remediation plans for nurses.
Nurses who are referred by the Board of Nursing (BON) for disciplinary actions due to nursing practice violations of the Nursing Practice Act (NPA) with Board Orders at Warning or below are eligible for this program. Advance Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) remediation is not available at this time.
The nurse must travel to Bryan/College Station, Texas for all Standardized Patient Simulation(s) and any Focused Remediation instruction if needed.   All other program modalities including the Cause Map interview, Jurisprudence & Ethics class, computer testing will be completed virtually via Zoom.  The individualized Education Plan (IEP) if needed will be completed through web-based training modules from home.
The nurse will be expected to travel to Bryan/College Station, Texas to complete the Standardized Patient evaluation(s) and any Focused Remediation session with a Texas A&M University School of Nursing faculty member.  Standardized Patient evaluations take approximately four hours to complete. Focused Remediation sessions are provided in either a 4-hour or a 6-hour interval depending on the number of modalities being remediated.  All Standardized Patient evaluations and Focused Remediation sessions will occur primarily on Wednesdays,  between the hours of 7:30AM – 5:00PM. Each nurse will be assigned a specific date and time.

The initial assessment is completed in 2 days. The training program is individualized and self-paced; therefore the completion timeframe will vary from one nurse to another. The average time frame for completion of the individualized educational plan (following initial assessment) is expected to be 2 months which the nurse will complete through web-based training modules from home. The final assessment/evaluation is 1 day, and is scheduled after the individual educational plan has been completed.

If referred by the BON, the nurse must enroll in the program within 45 days of date of the order unless otherwise agreed, and successfully complete the program within one year from the date the nurse signed the agreed order.

Yes. Participation in KSTAR Nursing does not prevent a nurse from working as long as he/she follows any BON board-ordered stipulations.
No. Current employment is not required during participation in the KSTAR Nursing program.
The nurse will be assigned a KSTAR Nursing coach who will guide him/her through the entire program to include self-paced remediation. The coach will discuss current status, progress toward goals and any questions with the nurse during scheduled phone sessions. Lack of progress toward goals may necessitate BON notification.
Please call our office for pricing information at 979-436-0406 or dgmiller@tamu.edu. Payment can be made in 2 equal installments. The first payment is due in full within 45 days of your board ratified order signed date. The second payment will be due 45 days after the initial payment and prior to any assessments. Based on individual assessment results, a precepted clinical experience may be indicated and additional costs, including travel, will be incurred. The cost of travel, hotel and food are not included in the program cost.

Individualized educational plans and a portion of the Nurse Assessment are completed through computer modules. The computer requirements are:

  • Windows:
    • Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8
      • Preferred: Mozilla Firefox latest version
      • Internet Explorer 9 or higher
    • Mac (Intel Processor):
      • Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or higher
        • Preferred: Mozilla Firefox latest version
        • Safari 5 or higher
    • Other Software
      • Silverlight 4 or higher
      • Adobe Acrobat Reader X or higher
      • Adobe Flash Player 11 or higher
      • Java Script enabled
    • Session timeout counter
      • The browser used needs to allow status bar updates via script otherwise a session timeout counter will not be visible to nurse.
  • Satellite ISPs
    • The training website functionality depends on direct connections to their website and databases in order to accurately display content. Because many satellite ISP’s cache web pages rather than allowing connection to the originating website, the company is not able to guarantee performance of their website over a satellite connection.

    Optimal settings for viewing Simulations videos are:

    • Supported OS List
      • Windows 7
      • Mac OS X v10.7 (Lion) or Mac OS X v10.8 (Mountain Lion)
    • Supported Browser List
      • IE 9
      • Firefox 14.0
      • Google Chrome 25.0
    • Additional Plugins and Browser Requirements
      • Active X
      • Enterprise site must be listed as a "trusted site"
      • Flip4Mac 2.4.4.2 (for viewing video on Mac only)

For additional information please contact Diana Miller at 979-436-0406 or dgmiller@tamu.edu