SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Hundreds of graduates who attended an online nursing college will have to continue to wait to find out if they’ll be able to work in California and may need to repeat semesters of school.

At a hearing Friday afternoon in Sacramento, Nightingale College argued the California Board of Registered Nursing’s requirement students complete 500 hours of direct patient care training doesn’t apply to the school. An attorney for the college argued the board can’t regulate out-of-state schools.

But the board disagrees and believes state law requires all nursing graduates to complete the minimum training before they can apply for licensure in California. On Friday, an attorney for the state said there are hundreds of applicants who are impacted.

He argued there could be “substantial harm” to the public if the grads were allowed to get licensed without having completed the required clinical hours in obstetrics or pediatrics, for example.

Nightingale College told the court there’s no evidence a graduate from the school, which is registered in Utah, has ever provided anything but the “highest quality of medical care.”

The school believes the board’s actions are unfair and said nearly 2,000 graduates from the online school have previously been licensed in California without issue.

In August, Team 10 reported hundreds of grads from the school might have to go back to school for a semester or longer as the state board worked to determine if Nightingale met California’s licensure requirements.

• Nursing board issues warning after students report death threats for raising concerns about college
• California graduates of Nightingale College’s nursing program in limbo as state conducts curriculum review

After our story aired, San Diego resident Rachel Baxter told us she received death threats for speaking to Team 10 about her experience with Nightingale College and sharing her frustration with not being able to get her nursing license.

The board then issued a warning to anyone who was sending death threats to graduates and warned that it could be cause for denying a license.

Nightingale College is suing the board and wants the court to issue a preliminary injunction.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Stephen Acquisto heard both sides make different arguments for more than an hour on Friday. He reserved his decision for a later date.