Welcome to the Board of Vocational Nursing & Psychiatric Technicians

What is the BVNPT?

The California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians (Board) protects the consumer from unprofessional and unsafe licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) and psychiatric technicians (PTs). Public protection is the highest priority of the Board in exercising its licensing, regulatory and disciplinary functions.

To protect the public, the Board:

  • Establishes the minimum requirements for examination and licensure.
  • Establishes educational standards for the accreditation of Vocational Nursing (VN) and Psychiatric Technicians (PT) schools in California.
  • Adopts regulations to clarify the performance, practice and disciplinary standards for its licensees.
  • Enforces the regulations governing the continued accreditation of VN & PT schools in California.
  • Enforces the regulations governing LVNs and PTs by taking appropriate disciplinary action against incompetent or unsafe licensees efficiently and effectively.

The Board is composed of eleven members with a public member majority (i.e., 6 public members and 5 professional members). Nine members are appointed by the Governor, one by the Speaker of the Assembly and one by the Senate Pro Tempore.

Committees serve as an essential component of the full Board to address specific issues referred by the public or recommended by staff. The present committee structure does not require a quorum because any decision of the committee must be voted on by the full Board to become policy. The committees are composed of 2-4 Board Members who are charged with gathering public input; maximizing the use of resource staff and materials; exploring alternative approaches to issues; analyzing the data collected; and making a recommendation to the full Board. This is a cost-effective method for formulating realistic objectives and professional recommendations for timely discussion at the next scheduled Board Meeting. All committee meetings are open to the public.