The public has a right to expect boards of nursing to monitor the competence of nurses throughout their careers. Continued competence is definable, measureable, and can be evaluated. A regulatory mechanism requiring the continued competence of every licensee serves to assure the public health, safety and welfare. The nurse is responsible for maintaining competence in nursing practice through the process of life-long learning. The nurse is expected to participate judiciously in activities which maintain competence in nursing practice.
Disciplinary action is indicated when a nurse fails to demonstrate continued competence.
Continued competence requirements apply to renewal, reinstatement, and endorsement of a license. Re-entry into nursing practice following a significant period of absence from practice, requires evidence of current knowledge, skills, and abilities. Continued competence for the licensed practical nurse is inherently different from continued competence for the registered nurse. The regulations for continued competence must bear a rational relationship to the legitimate mtate goal of assuring the public health, safety and welfare. Although the intent of regulations to assure continued competence is not to restrict competition, any regulation that controls access to a profession may have an anticompetitive effect.