Nursing Continuing Education Credit

This was just posted on the Texas Board of Nursing website:

Senate Bill 993 (80th Texas Legislative Session, 2007) amended the Nursing Practice Act (NPA) section 301.303, eliminating the restriction that the BON could only require 10 hours of the 20 hours of continuing education (CE) required for license renewal/reactivation/reinstatement to be from approved programs (Type I CE). Reviewing the past several months of CE audits, Board staff determined that fewer than 5 nurses out of the hundreds who were randomly audited for CE compliance met any part of their requirements through non-approved (Type II) CE programs.

Thus, the new rule language in Rule 216 Continuing Education that became effective January 8, 2008, effectively eliminates Type II CE. The proposed amendments were initially published in the November 16, 2007, edition of the Texas Register (32 TexReg 8248).

In order to allow time for nurses and providers of CE to become aware of these changes in nursing continuing education requirements, the BON will recognize an implementation phase through the end of October 2008. This means a nurse who is required to show evidence of meeting the BON’s CE requirements through the end of October 2008 may submit up to 10 hours of CE that meets the formerly recognized criteria for Type II CE.

The number of CE hours required for nurses with volunteer retired status on their license in compliance with rule 217.9 remain unchanged (10 hours for VR-VNs and VR-RNs, and 20 hours for VR-APNs), but the same provisions for acceptable in rule 216 do apply.

Beginning November 1, 2008, all nurses who are renewing, reactivating, or reinstating their license must meet the criteria listed in the revised Rule 216.

New Peer Review Rules

The Texas Board of Nursing has posted their new proposed rules for Peer Review. Every nurse should find time to review these rules since they will apply if you are sent to peer review. Are there enough protections for you? Are the rules slanted more for employers rather than nurses? You have to read and decide for yourself.

Nursing Jurisprudence Course

The Board has in the past traveled around Texas giving their course on Nursing Practice. This year they are staying in Austin due to staff being needed to work on other tasks. Here is the info from their website:

Austin Texas Workshop - Nursing in Texas: A Regulatory Foundation for Safe Practice. This ONE-DAY workshop will be presented on three dates in 2008.

* March 21, 2008
* June 20, 2008
* September 12, 2008

Texas Nursing Board Formal Complaints

On February 12, 2008, the E&D Committee for the Texas Board of Nursing will consider default revocation actions against 26 nurses. So what? you may be thinking. Well, it is doubtful that all 26 nurses deserve to loose their license and the bigger picture is that there will be 26 fewer nurses practicing. Granted, the public will be better off with some of those nurses not working, but many nurses are revoked because they do not understand the procedure at the Board.

I spoke with a nurse that thought that the initial investigation by the Board meant that she could not work as a nurse and that it was a done deal that she would loose her license. So, she has not been working since 2006 and thought her license was gone. She did not understand the board's investigatory procedure or her rights. If you receive a notice of investigation by the Board, do not ignore the letter nor should you give up. Read as much as possible about the procedure and obtain legal counsel ASAP.

One of the areas where many nurses harm themselves is by NOT responding to a filing of Formal Charges. If you receive a letter from the Board that discusses default proceedings and included in the letter is a document title Formal Charges, you must file an answer to those formal charges within 3 weeks or the Board can enter default proceedings against you. What a default judgment means is that you chose not to participate in the process and because of your lack of action, the Board is allowed to determine that all allegations against you are true and thus seek revocation of your license.

Do not be like those 26 nurses, fight for your license or at least speak with an experienced attorney to determine if revocation is the only outcome.