STATE BOARD
OF NURSING[49 PA. CODE CH. 21] Continuing Education for Professional Nurses [37 Pa.B. 1980]
[Saturday, April 28, 2007]The State Board of Nursing (Board) proposes to amend §§ 21.1, 21.5 and 21.29 (relating to definitions; fees; and expiration and renewal of license) and to add §§ 21.131--21.134 (relating to continuing education) to read as set forth in Annex A. This proposed rulemaking is intended to establish the requirements for professional nurses to complete continuing education in compliance with recent amendments to The Professional Nursing Law (act) (63 P. S. §§ 211--225).
Effective Date
The proposed rulemaking will be effective upon final-form publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Statutory Authority
The proposed rulemaking is authorized by the act of June 29, 2006 (P. L. 275, No. 58) (Act 58), which amended the act by adding section 12 (63 P. S. § 222), which requires professional nurses to complete 30 hours of continuing education for biennial license renewal and directs the Board to promulgate regulations establishing requirements of continuing nursing education, including any necessary fees.
Background and Need for the Amendment
Prior to Act 58, professional nurses were the only professional health care provider in this Commonwealth that were not required to complete mandatory continuing education for licensure renewal. Mandatory continuing education is intended to ensure that professional nurses remain abreast of developments in their field and are able to provide high quality care to patients. As required by the act, this proposed rulemaking establishes the requirements for continuing education content and computation of hours, lists preapproved providers of continuing education, provides for Board approval of continuing education from other sources and provides disciplinary sanctions for failure to complete mandatory continuing education.
Description of Proposed Amendments
§ 21.1. Definitions.
The Board proposes to add three definitions to § 21.1. The Board will define ''continuing education'' as ''an activity approved by the Board as a condition for renewal of licensure for which a certificate of attendance is provided.'' The certificate of attendance is required as the method by which the Board may verify compliance with the continuing education requirement. ''Certificate of attendance'' is defined as ''written third party verification of an individual's completion of continuing education.'' Consistent with definitions used by other professional licensing boards, for example, the State Board of Dentistry, which defines a ''continuing education certificate'' as ''a document prepared by the program sponsor which contains the title of the course, the dates attended or completed and the hours of education completed,'' the proposed rulemaking requires verification of attendance by a third party.
Finally, the Board proposes to define ''distance learning continuing education'' as continuing education ''in which the individual participates in the educational activity by means of an electronic media or through peer-reviewed journals or individually, rather than in a classroom, laboratory or clinical setting where the faculty and participant are physically located in the same room.'' The Board's definition seeks to include a wide variety of distance learning, including videoconferences, Internet continuing education and professional journals that offer continuing education. These sources are highly reliable methods of obtaining continuing education that generally require the participant to complete a substantive test of the material covered to obtain credit. Individual continuing education is also included in the definition to capture group or independent research projects. Research must be approved by the sponsoring facility's Institutional Review Board to be creditable, as set forth in § 21.133(d) (relating to continuing education content). Another example of creditable individual continuing education is taking a college course in a foreign language relevant to health care in accordance with §§ 21.133(b) and 21.134(a)(5) (relating to continuing education sources).
§ 21.5. Fees.
Section 12 of the act requires the Board to set fees necessary for the Board to carry out its responsibilities under this section. The Department of State revenue office met with the Board's Executive Director and determined the appropriate fee based on the cost to the Board of reviewing a continuing education proposal. The fee is set at $75 for approval of 1 hour of continuing education. The fee is cumulative, in other words, a request for approval of a 10-hour continuing education activity would carry a fee of $750. Calculating the approval fee on a per-credit hour basis is consistent with the method used by other organizations that accredit continuing education for professional nurses.
§ 21.29. Expiration and renewal of license.
The Board proposes to delete outdated material in § 21.29(a) pertaining to professional nursing licenses that expired on October 31, 1985, and retain only the portion that continues to be relevant. The provision will be redrafted to provide simply that the Board will assign registered nurses to one of four license expiration dates: April 30 in even-numbered years, October 31 in even-numbered years, April 30 in odd-numbered years and October 31 in odd-numbered years.
The Board proposes to amend § 21.29(b) to improve clarity. The Board also proposes to amend § 21.29(c) to delete the requirement that the licensee's current employer must retain the display portion of the renewed license. This provision was intended to ensure that only nurses with current licenses could practice nursing. This provision is outdated because the Board's licensure records are now available online. Online verification of current licensure is an efficient, no-cost method of ensuring that a licensee holds a current license to practice. In addition, online verification is much more accurate, as the Board's online licensure records are updated daily.
The Board proposes to amend § 21.29(c) to specifically refer to online renewal of licensure to ensure that all licensees are aware of the availability of online renewal. Online renewal saves time for both the licensee and Board staff and allows a licensee to renew a license almost instantly. By contrast, during peak renewal periods when the Board may receive 5,000 or more paper applications for renewal in a week, processing time for renewing a license may be up to 1 month. Online renewal is more efficient for the licensee and saves the Board enormous cost in having its staff process paper applications.
In addition to administrative requirements for biennial license renewal, such as disclosing licensure in another state in § 21.29(c)(1), paying the biennial renewal fee in § 21.29(c)(2) and disclosing discipline in another state or criminal conviction in § 21.29(c)(4), the Board proposes to include a requirement that the nurse verify compliance with the continuing education requirements in § 21.29(c)(3).
§ 21.131. Continuing education.
The Board proposes to add a section setting forth the general requirements regarding continuing education. Subsection (a) sets forth the statutory requirement that a professional nurse complete 30 hours of continuing education approved by the Board during each biennium. This requirement will begin with the first renewal that allows each of the four license renewal groups at least 2 years to comply. For example, if the final-form rulemaking is effective by the end of 2007, licensees who renew in April of even-numbered years would have to complete 30 hours of continuing education for the first time between May 2008 and April 2010, and would need to verify completion of the required hours on their renewal application in 2010. Licensees who renew in October of even-numbered years would have to complete their required hours for the first time between November 2008 and October 2010; those in April of odd-numbered years would be required to complete the required hours for the first time between May 2009 and April 2011; and those in October of odd-numbered years would commence compliance between November 2009 and October 2011.
Subsection (b) would set forth the statutory exception that licensees applying for initial licensure by examination will not be required to meet the continuing education requirement on the first renewal immediately following licensure if the applicant completed a nursing education program within 2 years of the date of application. This provision is consistent with other health care providers' requirements and recognizes that a recent graduate has up-to-date knowledge in the profession.
Subsection (c) would require licensees to maintain certificates of attendance for at least 5 years and to provide copies of the certificates to the Board upon request. Subsection (d) sets forth the statutory provision requiring applicants for reinstatement of a lapsed license or reactivation of an inactive license to comply with the continuing education requirements for the biennial period immediately preceding application for reinstatement. Subsection (e) sets forth the same requirement for a licensee seeking reinstatement of a suspended license.
In subsection (f), the Board sets forth additional information regarding the waiver of continuing education contemplated by section 12(d) of the act. In addition to the requirements for waiver set forth in the act, the Board proposes to require that licensees request the waiver not less than 120 days prior to the expiration date of the licensee's license to allow sufficient time for Board staff to process the request. In addition, it would provide that the Board will grant, deny or grant in part the request for waiver.
In subsection (g), the Board addresses the disciplinary action for licensees who fail to comply with the continuing education requirements. In paragraph (1), the Board proposes to provide for the imposition of a civil penalty, through proposed § 43b.18a (regarding schedule of civil penalties--nurses), for licensees who fail to complete 30 hours of continuing education during the biennial period. The civil penalty schedule for continuing education violations (first offense) is promulgated by the Commissioner of Professional and Occupational Affairs in a separate rulemaking package. Second or subsequent offenses will subject the professional nurse to discipline under section 14(a)(3) of the act (63 P. S. § 224(a)(3)), which authorizes the Board to discipline a licensee for willful or repeated violation of the act or regulations of the Board.
Subsection (g)(2) would require licensees who have not completed 30 hours of continuing education in the biennial period to report the actual number of hours completed, to make up the deficiency within 6 months and to provide the Board with certificates of attendance for the entire 30 hours of continuing education immediately upon completion. For licensees who did not complete the required number of hours and who additionally fail to provide the Board with certificates of attendance for 30 hours of continuing education within 6 months after renewal, paragraph (3) sets forth additional disciplinary sanctions under section 14(a)(3) of the act.
§ 21.132. Continuing education hours.
Section 21.132 would set forth information regarding the computation of time for purposes of crediting an activity for continuing education hours. Consistent with the Board's regulations for certified registered nurse practitioners (CRNP), each hour for purposes of continuing education must be not less than 50 minutes. This is also consistent with an ''academic hour'' used by most colleges and universities. Section 21.132(b) sets forth equivalencies for course-related clinical practice and academic quarter and semester units. This section would allow, for example, a professional nurse who obtained licensure after graduation from a diploma program to obtain continuing education credit for nursing courses taken in pursuit of a bachelor's degree in nursing. Similarly, this section would allow a professional nurse obtaining an advanced nursing degree to be awarded continuing education credit for advanced nursing courses.
§ 21.133. Continuing education content.
Section 21.133 would set forth the acceptable content for continuing education activities. Courses in nursing administration, management, education and diagnostic and procedural coding are acceptable because these areas constitute a large percentage of the work of many nurses. Group or individual research may only be used for continuing education credit if the Institutional Review Board of the facility in which the research will take place has approved the research. This caveat ensures that continuing education credit is granted only for research that has been evaluated by the body responsible for evaluating research in a health care facility. The Board proposes in § 21.133(e) to deny continuing education credit for nonprofessional course content in self-improvement, changes in attitude, financial gain and courses designed for lay people.
§ 21.134. Continuing education sources.
In addition to the statutory approval of Nationally certified education courses, the Board determined that some sources of continuing education consistently prepare educational activities of quality that they should be preapproved to provide continuing education activities. This approach is consistent with the approach used by the other health-related licensing boards in the Commonwealth and other state boards of nursing. The preapproved providers, listed in § 21.134(a), are as follows: Board-approved professional nursing or CRNP education programs; accredited professional nursing, CRNP, certified registered nurse anesthetist, clinical nurse specialist and nurse midwifery education programs; programs sponsored by accredited hospitals and health care facilities; programs sponsored by hospitals and health care facilities licensed by the Department of Health; programs sponsored by regionally-accredited institutions of higher education offering courses that comply with § 21.133; National nursing, medical and osteopathic organizations and state and regional affiliates; and National pharmaceutical organizations and state and regional affiliates.
Under subsection (b), the Board may approve other sources of continuing education on a case-by-case basis. The continuing education sponsor or a nurse seeking approval for a continuing education activity must submit the following information: full name and address of the provider; title of the activity; date and location of the activity; faculty qualifications; schedule of the activity, including, for activities with multiple presenters, the title of each subject, lecturer and time allotted; hours of continuing education; method of certifying and assuring attendance and draft of certificate of attendance to be provided to course participants; course objectives; curriculum; target audience; program coordinator; instruction methods; evaluation methods, including participant evaluation and activity evaluation; and other information requested by the Board. Section 21.134(c) would require that requests for approval of continuing education activities be submitted at least 120 days prior to the commencement of the activity to allow the Board sufficient time to review the request. If approved, the Board will determine the number of continuing education hours awarded. Consistent with the regulations governing continuing education for CRNPs, a separate application fee is required whenever a change is made to any information except a change to the date and location of an activity.
Finally, § 21.123(g) would provide that distance learning is acceptable for completion of all 30 continuing education hours required for biennial license renewal. Although the professional licensing boards for other health-related professions in this Commonwealth have limited the number of hours that may be completed through distance learning, two compelling reasons form the basis of the Board's decision to permit professional nurses to complete all 30 hours through distance learning. First, distance learning for completion of nursing continuing education is the standard across the United States. Of the 26 other states, including the District of Columbia, that require continuing education for professional nurses, all 26 permit the nurse to complete 100% of the continuing education requirement from distance learning sources. The remaining states do not mandate continuing education for licensure renewal. Second, unlike the other health-related professions in this Commonwealth, an individual can obtain a nursing license after graduating from a nursing education program that is conducted entirely through distance learning media.
Because the proposed rulemaking is statutorily mandated and its implementation is largely administrative, the Board did not specifically request input in drafting of the proposed rulemaking from nursing associations and other interested parties. However, the statutory amendments were well publicized and several associations provided input to the Board on the drafting of the rulemaking.
Also, the Board considered the impact the proposed rulemaking would have on the regulated community and on public safety and welfare. The Board finds that the proposed rulemaking addresses a compelling public interest as described in this preamble.
Fiscal Impact and Paperwork Requirements
The proposed rulemaking will not have an adverse fiscal impact on the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions, as the Board is self-supporting. The proposed rulemaking will not impose additional paperwork requirements upon the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions. To the extent that private sector providers of continuing education will be required to provide certificates of attendance to professional nurses who complete a continuing education activity, there may be additional paperwork requirements placed on certain members of the private sector. Professional nurses will also experience increased paperwork requirements in tracking compliance with the statutorily mandated continuing education. Professional nurses or their employers will incur costs in complying with statutorily mandated continuing education.
Sunset Date
The Board continuously monitors the cost-effectiveness of its regulations. Therefore, no sunset date has been assigned.
Regulatory Review
Under section 5(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(a)), on April 18, 2007, the Board submitted a copy of this proposed rulemaking and a copy of a Regulatory Analysis Form to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) and to the Chairpersons of the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee and the House Professional Licensure Committee. A copy of this material is available to the public upon request.
Under section 5(g) of the Regulatory Review Act, IRRC may convey any comments, recommendations or objections to the proposed rulemaking within 30 days of the close of the public comment period. The comments, recommendations or objections must specify the regulatory review criteria which have not been met. The Regulatory Review Act specifies detailed procedures for review, prior to final publication of the rulemaking, by the Board, the General Assembly and the Governor of comments, recommendations or objections raised.
Public Comment
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments, recommendations or objections regarding this proposed rulemaking to Ann Steffanic, Board Administrator, State Board of Nursing, P. O. Box 2649, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2649 within 30 days following publication of this proposed rulemaking in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
JOANNE L. SORENSEN, RN, MS,
Chairperson(Editor's Note: For a document relating to this proposed rulemaking, see 37 Pa.B. 1986 (April 28, 2007).)
Fiscal Note: 16A-5130. No fiscal impact; (8) recommends adoption.
Annex A TITLE 49. PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS PART I. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Subpart A. PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL AFFAIRS CHAPTER 21. STATE BOARD OF NURSING Subchapter A. REGISTERED NURSES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 21.1. Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
* * * * * Certificate of attendance--Written verification of an individual's completion of continuing education from an approved provider.
Continuing education--An activity approved by the Board as a condition for renewal of licensure or certification for which a certificate of attendance is provided.
* * * * * Distance learning continuing education--Continuing education in which the individual participates in the educational activity by means of electronic media or through peer-reviewed journals or individually, rather than in a classroom, laboratory or clinical setting where the faculty and participant are physically located in the same room.
* * * * * § 21.5. Fees.
(a) The following fees are charged by the Board:
* * * * * Request for approval of 1 hour of continuing education for a professional nurse $75
* * * * * LICENSES § 21.29. Expiration and renewal of license.
(a) [Registered nurses whose licenses expire on October 31, 1985 will thereafter be subject to the following license renewal schedule:
(1) Licenses of registered nurses whose license numbers end in the numbers 01 through 25 will expire on April 30, 1986 and, following renewal, will thereafter expire on April 30 in the even-numbered years. The license renewal fee for licenses that expire on April 30, 1986 will be 25% of the renewal fee for the usual 2-year renewal period. The renewal fee for licenses that expire on an anniversary of April 30, 1986 will be the renewal fee for the usual 2-year renewal period.
(2) Licenses of registered nurses whose license numbers end in the numbers 26 through 50 will expire on October 31, 1986 and, following renewal, will thereafter expire on October 31 in the even-numbered years. The license renewal fee for licenses that expire on October 31, 1986 will be 50% of the renewal fee for the usual 2-year renewal period. The renewal fee for licenses that expire on an anniversary of October 31, 1986 will be the renewal fee for the usual 2-year renewal period.
(3) Licenses of registered nurses whose license numbers end in the numbers 51 through 75 will expire on April 30, 1987 and, following renewal, will thereafter expire on April 30 in the odd-numbered years. The license renewal fee for licenses that expire on April 30, 1987 will be 75% of the renewal fee for the usual 2-year renewal period. The renewal fee for licenses that expire on an anniversary of April 30, 1987 will be the renewal fee for the usual 2-year renewal period.
(4) Licenses of registered nurses whose license numbers end in the numbers 76 through 00 will expire on October 31, 1987 and, following renewal, will thereafter expire on October 31 in the odd-numbered years. The license renewal fee for licenses that expire on October 31, 1987 will be the renewal fee for the usual 2-year renewal period. The renewal fee for licenses that expire on an anniversary of October 31, 1987 will be the renewal fee for the usual 2-year renewal period.
(5) Registered nurses who obtain initial licensure on or after November 1, 1985 and registered nurses who reactivate their licenses on or after November 1, 1985 will be assigned] The Board will assign registered nurses to one of the following license expiration dates:
[(i)] (1) April 30 in the even-numbered years.
[(ii)] (2) October 31 in the even-numbered years.
[(iii)] (3) April 30 in the odd-numbered years.
[(iv)] (4) October 31 in the odd-numbered years.
(b) [Application for] Notice of the renewal period of a license will be [forwarded biennially] sent to each active [registrant] licensee prior to the expiration date of the [current renewal biennium] licensee's license.
(c) [The application form shall be completed and returned, accompanied by the required renewal fee. Upon approval of the application, the applicant will receive a license for the current renewal period. The display portion of the renewed license shall be retained by the current employer of the registrant; the wallet card portion shall be retained by the registrant.] The applicant for license renewal may complete and submit an application online or may mail a completed application form to the Board's administrative office. When applying for licensure renewal, a professional nurse shall:
(1) Complete and submit the renewal application form, including disclosing any license to practice nursing or any allied health profession in any other state, territory, possession or country.
(2) Pay the biennial renewal of licensure fee in § 21.5 (relating to fees).
(3) Beginning with the license period commencing on ______ (Editor's Note: The blank refers to the date of the first biennial renewal that occurs at least 2 years after the effective date of adoption of this proposed rulemaking.), verify that the professional nurse has complied with the continuing education requirements mandated by section 12 of the act (63 P. S. § 222) during the biennial period immediately preceding the application for renewal in accordance with §§ 21.131--21.134 (relating to continuing education).
(4) Disclose any discipline imposed by a state licensing board on any nursing or allied health profession license or certificate in the previous biennial period and any criminal charges pending or criminal conviction, plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or admission into a probation without verdict or accelerated rehabilitative disposition during the previous biennial period.
(d) [When communicating with the Board, the registrant shall identify herself by using full name, including maiden name; current address; and the Commonwealth certificate number, which shall either be typed or printed.] Licensees shall retain the wallet card and display portion of their license.
(e) When communicating with the Board, licensees shall identify themselves by full name, current address and license number.
(Editor's Note: The following text is new. It has been printed in regular type to enhance readability.)
CONTINUING EDUCATION § 21.131. Continuing education.
(a) Requirement of continuing education. Beginning with the license period commencing on ______ (Editor's Note: The blank refers to the date of the first biennial renewal that occurs at least 2 years after the effective date of adoption of this proposed rulemaking.), an applicant for renewal of a professional nursing license shall complete 30 hours of continuing education approved by the Board during the biennial period immediately preceding the application for renewal in accordance with section 12 of the act (63 P. S. § 222) and this subchapter.
(b) Exception. An applicant applying for initial licensure by examination in this Commonwealth will not be required to meet the continuing education requirement on the first renewal immediately following licensure if the applicant completed an approved nursing education program within 2 years of the date of application for initial licensure by examination.
(c) Certificates of attendance. The licensee shall retain original certificates of attendance to document completion of the continuing education requirement for at least 5 years and provide legible copies of the certificates upon request by the Board.
(d) Reinstatement of lapsed license or reactivation of inactive license. A licensee seeking to reinstate a lapsed license or reactivate an inactive license shall submit certificates of attendance to demonstrate that the licensee completed 30 hours of continuing education within the biennial period immediately preceding application for reinstatement.
(e) Reinstatement of suspended license. A licensee seeking to reinstate a suspended license shall submit certificates of attendance to demonstrate that the licensee completed 30 hours of continuing education within the biennial period immediately preceding application for reinstatement.
(f) Waiver. A licensee may request a waiver of the continuing education requirement because of serious illness, military service or other demonstrated hardship. The licensee shall submit the request and any supporting documentation to the Board in writing at least 120 days prior to the licensee's license expiration date. The Board will grant, deny or grant in part the request for waiver.
(g) Disciplinary action authorized.
(1) Failure to complete a minimum of 30 hours of continuing education in a biennial period will subject the professional nurse to discipline under section 13(b) of the act (63 P. S. 223(b)) in accordance with the schedule of civil penalties in § 43b.18a (relating to schedule of civil penalties--nurses). A second or subsequent violation will subject the professional nurse to discipline under section 14(a)(3) of the act (63 P. S. § 224(a)(3)).
(2) A professional nurse who has not completed a minimum of 30 hours of continuing education shall report the number of continuing education hours completed on the biennial renewal application and shall make up the deficiency within 6 months. The licensee shall provide certificates of attendance for the entire 30-hour requirement to the Board immediately upon completion.
(3) Notwithstanding any civil penalty assessed under paragraph (1), failure to provide the Board with certificates of attendance documenting 30 hours of approved continuing education within 6 months after the end of the biennial period in which the professional nurse was deficient will subject the licensee to discipline under section 14(a)(3) of the act.
§ 21.132. Continuing education hours.
(a) The Board will accept hours of continuing education as designated by an approved provider, so long as each hour is at least 50 minutes of activity.
(b) For purposes of determining acceptable hours of continuing education for academic coursework, the following applies:
(1) Each 3 hours in course-related clinical practice will be accepted as 1 hour of continuing education.
(2) One academic quarter unit is equal to 10 continuing education hours.
(3) One academic semester unit is equal to 15 continuing education hours.
§ 21.133. Continuing education content.
(a) Continuing education must be relevant to professional nursing in a general or specialty area and enhance the knowledge and application of the physical, social, biological and behavioral sciences.
(b) Courses in areas related to nursing such as the following are acceptable:
(1) Human sexuality.
(2) Death, dying and grief.
(3) Foreign language relevant to health care.
(4) Therapeutic interpersonal relationship skills.
(5) Patient rights and pharmacology.
(c) Courses in nursing administration, management, education and diagnostic and procedural coding are acceptable.
(d) Group or individual research, if approved by the Institutional Review Board, is acceptable and will be credited as 15 hours of continuing education.
(e) Nonprofessional course content in self-improvement, changes in attitude, financial gain and those courses designed for lay people are not acceptable for meeting requirements for license renewal.
§ 21.134. Continuing education sources.
(a) The following providers of continuing education and credentialing organizations for professional nurses are approved:
(1) Board-approved professional nursing or CRNP education programs.
(2) Accredited professional nursing, CRNP, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, Clinical Nurse Specialist and Nurse Midwifery education programs.
(3) Programs sponsored by accredited hospitals and health care facilities.
(4) Programs sponsored by hospitals and health care facilities licensed by the Department of Health.
(5) Programs sponsored by regionally-accredited institutions of higher education offering courses that comply with § 21.133 (relating to continuing education content).
(6) National nursing, medical and osteopathic organizations and their state and regional affiliates.
(7) National pharmaceutical organizations and their state and regional affiliates.
(b) The Board may approve other sources of continuing education on a case-by-case basis after the provider or professional nurse seeking approval submits the following:
(1) Full name and address of the provider.
(2) Title of the activity.
(3) Date and location of the activity.
(4) Faculty qualifications.
(5) Schedule of the activity, including, for activities with multiple presenters, the title of each subject, lecturer and time allotted.
(6) Hours of continuing education.
(7) Method of certifying and assuring attendance, and draft of certificate of attendance to be provided to course participants.
(8) Course objectives.
(9) Curriculum.
(10) Target audience.
(11) Program coordinator.
(12) Instruction methods.
(13) Evaluation methods, including participant evaluation and activity evaluation.
(14) Other information requested by the Board.
(c) Requests for approval of a continuing education activity under subsection (b) shall be submitted at least 120 days prior to commencement of the activity and shall be accompanied by the fee set forth in § 21.5 (relating to fees).
(d) Upon approval of a continuing education activity under subsection (b), the Board will determine the number of continuing education hours awarded for the activity.
(e) A separate application and fee, as set forth in § 21.5, shall be submitted whenever a change is made to any information submitted under subsection (b), except for information related to a change in date or location, or both, of the activity under subsection (b)(3).
(f) A continuing education provider shall award a certificate of attendance to professional nurses who complete the continuing education activity. The certificate must contain the information listed in subsection (b)(1)--(6) and the name of the individual to whom the certificate is awarded.
(g) Distance learning continuing education is acceptable for completion of all 30 continuing education hours required for license renewal.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 07-743. Filed for public inspection April 27, 2007, 9:00 a.m.]
