Why In today’s society do nurses still have to pay for our RN license renewals

[Kymmylala]

I find it astonishing that nurses still have to pay to renew our licenses at such high costs. I feel this is a failure of our Gov’t to still be charging nurses to hold a license that requires us to care for people. We have paid enough for our education, some of us have paid upwards of 100k to become a nurse! Especially now in the middle of a pandemic, yesterday in total I paid 300 to renew my license between the fee, ceu’s and fingerprints. Basically the Gov’t took back 300 from my stimulus so that I can work harder during a time that’s like they say “unprecedented.” To put my life at risk and be told, “sorry no PPE.” If at all It’s the employers that should be reimbursing us for our license fees. I know some companies do, but all should be required. This is ridiculous! Where exactly does all this money go? Again it’s another way for society to profit from the small people, although we still have to care for all rich or poor. Nursing doesn’t pay. Things definitely need to change. We are being taken advantage of. Our local congress people need to be made aware that this is wrong. How many of us nurses’ employers reimburse for license renewal and what are your thoughts/opinions on this matter?

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

12 hours ago, Kymmylala said:

In CA license renewal is $190 currently. Every renewal it goes up. I do mind paying. The board does not do anything for you or me.

That's part of the flip side for working in CA. As with anything in CA, it's more expensive, but the trade-off is a relatively higher salary compared to the rest of the country. When you pay your renewal fees in CA, you're paying the salaries of the BRN staff, and their salaries are probably higher than the salaries of BON staff in other states because the CA cost of living is so stupid high.

That said, there's literally no incentive for the CA BRN to lower prices or improve services (I.e. the 5 hour hold times). If you don't like it, there's nothing you can do about besides moving. It's not like all nurses in the state are going to strike against the BRN.

[SarahMaria, MSN, RN]

My employer reimburses me for my renewal.