CEU's

lkwashington · Nov 9, 2010

How about your CPR, ACLS, and inservices from work?

Murse901, MSN, RN · Nov 9, 2010

Check with your employer for any inservices that might count toward CEU's.

(Edit: oops, just noticed that was already suggested)

bigdttu · Nov 9, 2010

No inservices. What will the board do?

kakamegamama · Nov 10, 2010

You should be able to go to the BON website, or call them and ask. Also, you may have time before the deadline to get those hours done. If that's the case, do so. It's possible that if you don't have proof, you may have a warning from the board, with the stipulation that you complete those hours within x amount of time.

GoodNP · Nov 10, 2010

Yikes, scary!

nminodob · Nov 10, 2010

Get on one of those websites that offer online CEUs for a few dollars a unit - theres a bunch out there - I have no personal experience, but logic tells me that they would rather see you scramble and get those needed CEUs at the last minute rather than take a perfectly good RN out of the workforce! And the lesson to all of us is, keep good records!

cecilsgirl · Nov 10, 2010

I don't think you can now go back and scramble for CEU's- at least where I'm from you can not, They must be dated before your license was renewed. Try contacting the places you got your CEU's from, there should be some kind of record. I went through that once, a "random audit" and It is nerve racking!!!!, they wanted copies of my CUE's and proof of my mandatory reporters ceu's ( elder and child abuse class) -which we must do at least every 5 years. They give you a week or so to send it in, photo copies only, and I heard back with- in a week, and all was good. I keep all my CEU's and license stuff in a special drawer ,I suggest you do to, so you can always find it , in cases like this . Good luck, and I would call your board today ,to see what can be done,..if you can't find proof of your CEU's.

Murse901, MSN, RN · Nov 11, 2010

cecilsgirl is correct. You can't take CEU's after the fact and use them for renewal. i.e. if your renewal is on November 1, 2010, you can only use CEU's for the 2-year period prior to that, or however many years your state re-licenses for. Anything taken after November 1 (or whatever your renewal date is) is only good for your next renewal.

No inservices. What will the board do?

Are you positive? I find this *really* hard to believe, unless you're working in a very small clinic or doctor's office. Every facility I've worked at requires a minimum of 12-24 contact hours of inservices that may be used toward your license renewal (depending on the BON regulations). Have you actually checked with your employer? Maybe the staff development person at your employer could find some inservice hours that weren't documented. I'm not suggesting you do anything unethical. I'm just sayin'...

Once it's all said and done and if you find out that there is no way you can come up with the 20 contact hours, you need to get in touch with your BON as soon as possible! Be up front with them and be completely honest. Tell them that you were unable to complete the 20 hours and ask them what alternatives you have. I'm sure you're not the first person to not have the 20 hours, and I'm sure they'll work with you if you don't try to dodge the issue.

Worst case scenario, you may have to attend a refresher class. Best case, they'll give you a warning and leave you alone until the next re-licensing period.

Murse901, MSN, RN · Nov 11, 2010

Also, this won't really help you in this case, but it will help in the future. I personally use RN.com for the majority of my CEU's. They offer a free CE every month (anywhere from 1 to 3 contact hours) and their website will keep track of all your hours on their site. You can pay extra for unlimited CE's, which I do, but you can get at least 12 hours a year for free from them.

For all my CE classes that aren't through RN.com, I typically scan a copy of the certificate onto my computer and keep it in a folder in My Documents so it's always there in case I need to print out a copy.

bigdttu · Nov 12, 2010

Called the BON..... $250 fine! Well, at least they didn't suspend my license... Thanks for all your help!

pers · Nov 12, 2010

Read what is accepted by the BON carefully! One state I'm licensed in will give credit for college classes, orienting new employees, self-study (basically just reading nursing journals), being employed (as a nurse) at least six months with a satisfactory work evaluation, publishing nursing articles, completing nursing research, doing nursing presentations and a few other things as well.