I have several confessions to make. First, I waited until the last minute to renew my nursing license. Second, I suddenly realized there are Continuing Education (CE) credits that I needed to get. And finally, when I look at the Kentucky Board of Nursing Website, I have to admit, it’s about as clear as mud to me. Maybe, you are like me and you procrastinate or maybe you look at the regulation guidelines and suddenly think “Well, that’s it, I don’t deserve to have a license because I am such an idiot that I clearly can’t find my way out of a paper bag.” Ok, that was harsh. Let me just give you a few tips on how to complete your RN or APRN CE credits in Kentucky.
No, I’m not an expert, but I made a few phone calls, made a few mistakes and I now understand the requirements more clearly and also know the best way to complete them. Full disclosure, I was trying to save a few bucks and thought I could be clever but it ended up costing me more in the end. Hint: don’t wait until the last minute to do this, duh! Oh, by the way the deadline to renew your license is October 31st…that’s this week!
What are the CE Requirements for RNs?
To Renew your RN nursing license in Kentucky you need to complete 14 continuing education credits (HINT!! if you are renewing your APRN license read the APRN requirements in the next section before you start doing this, I didn’t and I went overboard). The CE credits for the RN must include the following:
- Suicide Prevention (2 Hours) – this course needs to cover both general suicide prevention and nurse suicide information including chronic stress and secondary trauma. This is a one time requirement! I think this is a great new addition to the CE requirements. I personally have written several articles related to stress reduction and building resilience and even mindfulness. Sadly, they won’t satisfy your CE credits.
- Implicit Bias (1.5 Hours) – this course must cover historical racism and other forms of prejudice that create healthcare discrepancies. It must also discuss methods of evaluating and reducing implicit bias. This is also a one time requirement!
- Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma (1.5 Hours) – this course must be completed within the first three years of licensure and is only a one time requirement.
- Domestic Violence (3 Hours) – good news for Kentucky grads! If you completed your nursing program in Kentucky after 1998 then this course was integrated into your education and nothing more needs to be done! However, if you come from out of state or graduated before 1998 you will need to get this requirement within the first three years of your Kentucky licensure. But it only needs to be completed once.
You also must pay attention to the list of CE providers. Unfortunately not all organizations you might think of will qualify (I was bummed to find that BLS and ACLS do not count!). The list of approved providers is posted on the KBN website.
CE Requirements for the APRN
Guess what?!?! I have some really exciting news for you. If you are renewing your APRN license in Kentucky, that automatically satisfies the 14 credit requirement for the RN license. However, you still must make sure you get content specific courses. “Wait! Hold up, don’t I need to get the 14 credits for my RN PLUS additional credits for the APRN?” That’s what I thought, but being the overly investigative nerd that I am, I called the Kentucky Board of Nursing to find out. Because someone who even works as an education coordinator at one of the hospitals had even told me they thought the APRN needed 30 credits total and I was panicking about that!
So the main requirement for renewing your APRN license is just that you need to get 5 CE credits in pharmacology. That’s it. As long as you have the required content courses mentioned in the RN section, which you only have to complete once, then you’re golden. (Don’t forget about the list of approved providers)
What is the best way to meet the requirements?
Well that depends on how you define “best.” My favorite way to complete the credits is by attending a conference. I love professional conferences because it is a great excuse to travel and just get away from real life for a bit. You might even get to stay in a hotel, eat some great food, and see some cool sites. I have been to and even presented in many conferences from my previous career and even went to a conference as a nursing student and wrote about my experience and why I think it is a great thing for students to do.
This year I decided not to attend a conference because I was going to have to pay the full price out of my own pocket because my workplace wouldn’t cover it in your first year. However, if your employer will help you with continuing education to allow you to attend a conference I highly recommend that option. It takes care of all your credits at once but it’s much more interesting than sitting on a computer at home trying to cram some learning into your brain. You can actually interact with others and do some pretty cool workshops too.
Other Options to Complete the Requirements
Now on the other hand, if you are currently looking to finish your CE credits in a hurry (and as cheap as possible), like I was, here is what I recommend. First, NetCE.com is an approved provider that was recommended to me and they have packages to meet all the requirements. I ended up getting the upgrade which allows you unlimited courses for a full year. “Wow! I thought, since I DID procrastinate I can turn around in a couple weeks and just get my CE credits for next year out of the way.” Kill two birds with one stone 😉 – well that didn’t turn out the way I thought. I paid the 79.99 and thought I was getting a deal until I found out that for my APRN I only needed 5 hours of pharmacology and the two new required content courses (Implicit bias and Nurse Suicide Prevention). I mean I could have saved some money but oh well, I am passing on my wisdom to you so you don’t do the same.
I like a good deal, but I like FREE stuff even better. So I did find a few resources that are a little cheaper (and even FREE) for some of the content specific requirements if you need them.
- TRAIN offers a FREE course that satisfies the Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma
- Kentucky Nurses Association offers courses for Suicide prevention and Implicit Bias for only $5 each! And you don’t even have to be a KNA member to take these courses (I think you do have to join if there are other courses you want to take). This is a pretty great deal if you only need to complete these two courses because they are $15 and $30 respectively if you piece meal them on NetCE.com or a total of $31 for a package to complete all 14 hours for your RN including these two courses.
Did you enjoy this article? Here are a few related topics you may also find helpful
- Nurses and Coping
- One Minute Mindfulness
- Nursing Burnout
- What I Learned at a Nursing Conference and Why Students Should Go
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