CEU Questions

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

Good day everyone:

I saw and was reading https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/anyone-else-bothered-936716.html which raised some questions.

1. You just pass your NCLEX, get your license (I guess in the mail), then when do you need to start working on or being concerned with CEU's? i.e. immediately, or within ___ (#) ____ (weeks, months, years)?

2. If you graduate with a ADN, and start working on your BSN, what types of classes (if any) would count towards CEU's? i.e. can you kill two birds with one stone (classes towards BSN grant CEU's)?

3. Where do you find CEU's to take?

4. In general what is the cost per CEU unit?

Thank you.

[RunBabyRN]

I will answer what I can of these:

1. You can do CEUs anytime between when you're licensed and when your license is due. For example, I am newly licensed, but I am already accruing some CEUs toward renewal. I'm sure some people wait, but I'm not a fan of procrastinating!

2. Honestly, I don't know. I doubt it, but I'm sure someone else will have a more accurate answer.

3. Some of the training for one of my RN jobs (I now have 3, but have training to do for the other 2 still) gives me some CEUs. When I do my NRP, ACLS, etc., those will include CEUs. You can also find them in nursing journals and such.

4. Of course, the cost varies. The ones I received for training were free. The certifications are a few hundred dollars each, but offer a lot of CEUs. I know that the residency program through my university offers 28 CEUs for the program (I believe the cost is $800). Not all do this. Cost depends on where you're getting your CEUs. I couldn't even guess an average.

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

Thank you!

[rob4546, ADN, BSN, MSN]

My state does not participate in the CEU program due to people using them incorrectly. From what I have heard in school, the state has stopped requiring them because people would wait till the day before the CEUs would be due and then find the cheapest ones to gather and just buy them. I guess they wouldn't even read the articles or take the online classes and just take the included test over and over again till they passed. This isn't how the program should be implemented.

I did hear that they will revisit the topic in the coming years but I don't know if anything will change. I really like the idea of CEUs because we should stay current with our knowledge. Furthering education is a good thing.

I will be watching for responses to this, I am interested as well.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Check with your own state BON for all the specific rules re: CEs. In most states, the 'nursing' classes you are taking for educational advancement will count toward your required CEs... but there are rules for converting them (from credit hours to contact hours). Your BON will also have information about what type of classes are acceptable.

For instance, in my state, we can only count initial ACLS class, because CE must be 'new' information, not a review of previous or basic information. Currently, Tx also requires our CE to be relevant to our areas of practice, but if you are currently certified by a national specialty organization, you don't need any additional CEs to be eligible for license renewal.

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

Thank you!