The Texas Board of Nursing takes the regulation of its licensees very seriously. It is responsible not just for the initial licensure of nurses—in the course of which it naturally takes into account the quality and amount of prospective nurses’ education—but for ensuring that every licensed nurse maintains the quality of care they are providing throughout their careers. And as part of this, we find the requirement that every nurse demonstrate their ongoing competency to perform their duties. One major way of doing this is to take continuing education courses from year to year. Failure to demonstrate competency on a nurse’s part can result in the Board levying discipline against them.
Board of Nursing rule number 216 lays out the requirements for renewal of licensure. A Texas nurse may choose one of two methods for demonstrating competency in order to renew their license. One way (under rule 216.3 (b)) is:
“A nurse must meet either the requirements of this subsection or subsection (a) of this section. A nurse may choose to demonstrate the achievement, maintenance, or renewal of a Board-approved national nursing certification in the nurse’s area of practice within the licensing period, as defined in this chapter. A list of approved national nursing certifications may be obtained from the Board’s office or website.”
The other, under 216.3 (a) is:
“A nurse must meet either the requirements of this subsection or subsection (b) of this section. A nurse may choose to complete 20 contact hours of continuing nursing education (CNE) in the nurse’s area of practice within licensing period, as defined in this chapter.”
In order to fulfill the continuing nursing education requirement, the contact hours received must have been taken with programs (and held by providers) either approved by the Board or approved by a credentialing agency.
Failure to meet these requirements means that a nurse’s license will not be renewed.
Other nurses lose their licenses as a result of complaints made to the Board. A nurse learning they are the subject of a complaint against their license should contact us immediately. Our law firm helps professionals keep their licenses when those licenses are under attack. Our experienced professional license defense attorneys have successfully helped clients resolve a wide range of complicated legal matters involving professional license defense. We know how to navigate the complaint process, gather evidence, question witnesses, and prepare robust defenses against allegations of misconduct.
Contact an experienced nursing license defense attorney today
BERTOLINO LLP represents licensed professionals across the entire State of Texas. To best serve our clients we have offices in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. Our honest, experienced nursing license defense attorneys will fight aggressively on behalf of your professional license and reputation.
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