Renewing A Nursing License

Answer 1

Nurses are a vital part of the medical field, monitoring patients' conditions, providing care and providing wellness education. One important part of the nursing profession is to keep a license in good standing. The license is the tool that gives nurses the law-given provision to practice. Without a license, a nurse could not provide services legally. Each year, the government requires nursing facilities and hospitals to receive a full inspection. Inspections are performed by the state inspecting division. When inspection results are unsatisfactory, the facility has time to remedy the situation or face a federal inspection. Many federal inspections result in the closing of the facility. One of the most common citations during inspections is expired nursing licenses. Nurses who practice with an expired license, whether aware or not, are subject to major fines for each day they worked while not licensed. This will be costly to the nurse and may result in thousands of dollars owed. To avoid this problem, it is important to keep licenses up-to-date and go through the renewal process regularly.

Each state has different requirements for nurses' license renewals. One standard factor is completion of continuing education. Facility inservice meetings, seminars or classes taken at a school focused on nursing all count toward this requirement. Keeping documentation of continuing education is important. Facilities that provide training often send the paperwork and records to the state licensing office, but it is important that each nurse knows what procedure is used at their facility. Nurses will need to submit a paperwork form in several states, along with a fee. Some states only require the license information and fee to renew. Licenses that have lapsed expiration dates will need to be renewed by taking a test in most cases. The amount of months and years a nursing license is active varies depending on each state's policy. Being aware of the number of years required is crucial to avoid late penalties. Another important thing to ensure is the receiving of continuing education during the year. Knowing the state's requirement for the minimum number of CE hours is also crucial. Reports that are submitted with less hours than required may result in refusal to renew. If this may be an issue, nurses must apply to renew licenses far in advance. It is best to not wait until the last minute to renew; the process can be lengthy and takes time.