Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 46 - PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL STANDARDS › Part XLVII - Nurses: Practical Nurses and Registered Nurses › Subpart 2 - Registered Nurses › Chapter 33 - General › Subchapter C - Registration and Registered Nurse Licensure › Section XLVII-3335 - Continuing Education-Nursing Practice

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Authority of the Louisiana State Board of
					 Nursing (board). The board derives its authority to establish the requirement
					 for evidence of activities which contribute to continued competence for
					 relicensure to practice as a RN from
					 R.S.
					 37:911,
					 R.S.
					 37:918(4) and (12), and
					 R.S.
					 37:920.E (1), (2), and (4).
B. Definitions for the Purposes of
					 §3335
Accredited Post Secondary Institution
-a
						degree granting institution that conducts a program preparing registered nurses
						and awards degrees at any or all of the following levels: associates,
						bachelors, masters, and doctoral, and which is accredited by a nationally
						recognized accrediting body.
Approved Offering
-a continuing education
						offering provided by an approved provider.
Approved Provider
-individual,
						partnership, corporation, association, organization, organized health care
						system, educational institution, or governmental agency which has been approved
						by the board, accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's
						Commission on Accreditation (ANCC), or approved to provide nursing continuing
						education by an ANCC accredited approver.
Board-Approved Contact Hours
-contact
						hours which have been approved by the board or through the ANCC.
Clinical Competence
-the possession and
						use of professional knowledge and skills in relation to direct patient/client
						care.
Certifying Body
-an agency qualified to
						evaluate an individual, an institution, or an educational program and attesting
						that certain predetermined standards for safe and ethical practice of the
						profession or service are met.
Competence
-the possession of
						professional knowledge and skills necessary to practice or function at the
						legally qualified level.
Contact Hour
-a unit of measurement that
						describes 60 minutes of participation in an educational activity which meets
						the board's continuing education criteria.
Continued Competence
-the possession and
						maintenance of current professional knowledge and skills.
Continuing Education
-a planned
						educational activity designed to update the knowledge and skills of the
						participant, beyond the entry level, or to prepare for practice in a different
						area of nursing.
Continuing Education Activities
-
a.
Course
-an intense,
					 planned educational activity, presented over time, which includes content
					 related to a specific subject for which academic credit or contact hours are
					 awarded.
b.
Offering
-a continuing education activity of short duration for
					 which a minimum of one contact hour is awarded.
c.
Program
-a series of
					 offerings with a common theme and common overall goals. Offerings may occur
					 consecutively or concurrently.
Criterion
-a standard, rule, or test by
						which something can be judged, measured, or valued.
Current
-occurring in the present time;
						contemporary.
Documentation of Nursing Practice
-the
						presence of written evidence of nursing practice.
Examination
-an exercise designed to
						evaluate progress, qualifications, or knowledge.
Full-Time Nursing Practice
-a minimum of
						1,600 hours, per year, of employment as a registered nurse or full-time
						equivalency requirements set forth by the employer. For self-employed, home
						health, and contract nurses, a minimum of 1,600 documented nursing practice
						hours, exclusive of travel, per calendar year, is accepted as full-time
						employment. Documentation of practice hours shall include paycheck stubs and a
						log record of actual hours worked.
Inactive Licensure Status
-is recorded
						when the RN requests inactive licensure status rather than renew a current RN
						license.
Lapsed License
-delinquent licensure
						status due to failure to renew or to request inactive licensure status.
Inactive Licensure Status
-is recorded
						when the RN submits an application that is approved to inactivate a current RN
						license or is recorded when an individual declares another compact state, other
						than Louisiana, as the primary state of residence and holds an active
						multistate license in that other compact state with no discipline on the
						privilege to practice.
National Council Licensure Examination for
						Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN)
the examination approved by the board and
						administered to measure competency for initial licensure as a registered
						nurse.
Nursing Practice
-the performance, with
						or without compensation, by an individual licensed by the board or otherwise
						formally educated as a registered nurse, of functions requiring specialized
						knowledge and skill derived from the biological, physical, and behavioral
						sciences [Nurse Practice Act,
						R.S.
						37:913 (13) and (14)], which includes, but is
						not limited to, direct patient care, supervision, teaching, administration,
						consulting, quality assurance, and other positions which require use of nursing
						knowledge, judgment, and skill.
Part Time Nursing
						Practice
-Repealed.
Practice Hour
-60 minutes of nursing
						practice.
Refresher Course
-instruction designed to
						update professional knowledge and skills to the legally qualified level.
Requirement
-something needed or demanded
						by virtue of a law, regulation, etc.