The Louisiana State Board of Nursing has an annual requirement of nursing continuing education (CE) which each nurse must complete and document prior to renewing their licensure online at the LSBN website each fall. With over 40,000 nurses actively renewing their licenses each year, the Board does not have sufficient space to store and review the proof of continuing education completed by every nurse. The annual CE audit is how the Board spot checks that this requirement has been met.

Board rules LAC XLVII.3335.I.1 states:

Verification of Continuing Education/Nursing Practice.

On the application for relicensure, licensees shall sign a statement certifying compliance and agreeing to supply supporting documents upon request. Maintaining documentation of continuing education for at least five years is the responsibility of each individual. Falsification of the renewal application may result in disciplinary action.

During the online renewal process each nurse must check a box stating that they have met the annual CE requirement before transmitting their renewal application. The online renewal service does not accept a renewal application unless this CE verification box has been checked by the nurse.

The rules specify no less than 3 % of the actively licensed nurses. This is approximately 1300 to 1350 nurses each year.

Board rules LAC XLVII.3335.I.2 states:

Audit of Licensees. The board shall randomly select no less than 3 percent of the licensees for audit of compliance with the requirements for relicensure. Additionally, the board has the right to audit any questionable documentation of activities.

There is no limit to how many times an individual can be selected for the annual CE audit. If a nurse renews his/her nursing licensure they are eligible to be selected. The nursing continuing educational requirement is an annual requirement that all nurses must meet before renewing their Louisiana RN (or APRN) licensure online and proof of the CEs must be maintained by the nurse for five years. The CE audit is simply a way to provide proof that these requirements had been met and that the nurse was qualified to renew his/her nursing license.

No.

For tracking incoming packets received at LSBN, electronic scanning and processing, the packets must be sent by the nurse to LSBN by mail. If you are running close to the April 14, 2011 deadline and/or wish to have confirmation of its receipt at the Board office, send your packet by overnight delivery service through a public courier company or use Express Mail offered by the U.S. Postal Service. Maintain a copy of the courier overnight tracking number together with a photocopy of your audit packet for your records. Please do not call the Board office to confirm receipt of your packet.

Audit documents must be mailed to:

Louisiana State Board of Nursing
Attn: CE Audit
17373 Perkins Road
Baton Rouge, LA  70810

The audit packet must show a postmark date of receipt at the Board office on or before April 14, 2011.

In order for Board staff to review your packet and give credit for having successfully completed the CE audit, everything must be mailed together to the Board in one envelope. Do not submit your documentation in separate mailings or depend on other parties to send it to the Board on your behalf.

March 15, 2011 to the nurse’s address of record.

Board rules LAC XLVII.3335.I.2.d states:

Failure to complete the audit satisfactorily by the specified date or falsification of information will result in the licensure being rescinded to become invalid and may result in disciplinary action against the licensee in accord with the process and procedures provided in §3407.

The following documents need to be submitted by the audited nurse and mailed to the Louisiana State Board of Nursing in one envelope for individual review by Board staff:

1. CE Form # 1 - Audit Verification Checklist - RN – completed and signed by the nurse.
2. CE Audit Form # 2- Nursing Employment Verification – to be sent by the nurse to their 2010 nursing employer(s) for completion. The nurse must advise the employer(s) to return this form to them so the nurse can provide it as part of his/her complete audit response packet to LSBN for review.
3. Photocopies of proof of nursing continuing education completed by the nurse before he/she had renewed their nursing licensure for 2011 at the LSBN website. Continuing education certificates must show they meet the CE requirements of the Louisiana State Board of Nursing (see below). A copy of each individual CE certificate of completion showing the course was accredited by either the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or a U.S. State Board of Nursing is required if submitting contact hours. Summary sheets/transcripts of training courses taken through an employer are not accepted.

Audit Forms # 1 and # 2 area available at the LSBN website under Resources/Forms/CE Audit.

Please click here for information regarding LSBN accepted nursing continuing education.

Contact the person or company you had taken the course from and ask them to issue you a duplicate CE certificate and send it to you as quickly as possible. There may be a fee for the company to issue you a duplicate certificate. Since the CE certificates you’re sending to LSBN with your audit packet are photocopies (you’re maintaining the originals for five years), they can fax the duplicate CE certificate to you, or send you a scanned copy by email for you to print out to include in your packet.

If you are unable to provide photocopies showing proof of completion of your 2010 nursing continuing education as accepted by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, then prepare a short signed and dated letter explaining why and what attempts you had made to obtain duplicates copies and mail your letter to LSBN together with your signed CE Audit Form # 1 - Audit Verification Checklist - RN and CE Audit Form # 2- Nursing Employment Verification for receipt at the Board office on or before April 14, 2011.

If you are unable to provide proof of the LSBN accepted accredited nursing continuing education by the deadline you will be considered non-compliant. Your letter of explanation will be reviewed and you will be contacted by mail regarding the final determination once all audit packets have been received, reviewed and processed by Board staff, please do not call the Board office to make inquiries regarding the status.

Prepare a short signed and dated letter explaining why and mail to LSBN together with your signed CE Audit Form # 1 - Audit Verification Checklist - RN and CE Audit Form # 2- Nursing Employment Verification for receipt at the Board office on or before April 14, 2011

If you are unable to provide proof of the LSBN accepted accredited nursing continuing education by the deadline you will be considered non-compliant. Your letter of explanation will be reviewed and you will be contacted by mail regarding the final determination once all audit packets have been received, reviewed and processed by Board staff, please do not call the Board office to make inquiries regarding the status.

You must submit the CE Audit Form # 2- Nursing Employment Verification to that past employer to complete in order to show your nursing practice hours during 2010. The completion of this form is what determines how many contact hours of nursing continuing education you needed to have completed last year prior to renewing your license online for 2011. If the employer is out-of-state, you may fax them a copy of the form (or ask them to print a copy from the LSBN website) but please make sure they send the completed form back to you to submit with your packet. Only by reviewing how the employer(s) verified your nursing practice will you know for sure how many contact hours of accredited nursing continuing education completed in the year 2010 you need to submit with your audit packet.

APRNs can be selected for either the regular CE audit or the separate Pharmacology CE audit.

Board rules LAC XLVII.4513.D.5 states:

Continued Competency for Prescriptive Authority.

Each year an APRN with prescriptive authority shall obtain six contact hours of continuing education in pharmacotherapeutics in their category and area of specialization. Documentation of completion of the continuing education contact hours required for prescriptive authority shall be submitted at the request of the board in a random audit procedure at the time of the APRN's license renewal. In order for the continuing education program to be approved by the board, the program shall:

a. be provided by a board approved national certifying organization or provider approved by the board;

b. include content relevant to advanced practice nursing and the use of pharmacological agents in the prevention of illness, and the restoration and maintenance of health

An APRN selected for the regular CE audit would provide proof of current certification in their APRN specialty together with signed audit forms.

An APRN selected for the separate Pharmacology CE Audit would need to submit their signed audit checklist form together with photocopies of continuing education certificates showing six (6) contact hours specific to the topic of nursing pharmacology/pharmacotherapeutics completed during 2010 before they renewed.

The audit packet mailed out to the APRN who has been selected for audit will notify the individual which audit he/she has been selected. The checklist for the APRN Pharmacology audit is available at the LSBN website under Resources/Forms/CE Audit.

APRNs selected for the audit must submit their packet for receipt at the Board office on or before April 14, 2011.

You can call the Board office and provide either your nursing license number or SS # and Board staff can look you up in our database to see if your licensure file shows a March 2011 date in the Audit Date section of your licensure file. If it does, then you were selected for the audit this year and must submit audit documentation for receipt at the Board office on or before April 14, 2011.

Please note – all licensed RNs and APRNs are expected to update their contact information themselves at the LSBN website within 30 days. Postal address changes can be posted by the nurse at the LSBN website under Services/Address Change and email/phone number changes under Services/My Profile. Verification that a contact number/address change was accepted can be reviewed by the nurse by going back into the same section where it was posted 20-30 minutes later.

Board rules LAC XLVII.3333.A.1 states:

Change of Address. Notify the office of the board in writing within 30 days if a change of address has occurred.

Further, Board rules LAC XLVII.3335.I.2.e states:

Failure to notify the board of a current mailing address will not absolve the licensee from the audit requirement.

Call (225) 755-7520 and a Board staff member will be happy to assist you.