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Guides

Each guide opens with a short answer, lists who it applies to, and ends with primary sources and the date we checked them.

16 guides

Costs & plans · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN
Free Nursing CE: Check the Credit Before You Enroll
Free nursing CE can be useful when the activity meets your licensing requirements and includes the documentation you need. Free may mean a sample course, employer-sponsored education, or agency-funded training rather than an unrestricted course library. Check the individual activity before investing your time.
Costs & plans · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN, Nurse educator
Nursing CE Subscription or Single Courses: Calculate the Better Buy
A subscription is economical only when its included courses replace purchases you would otherwise need to make. Compare the total cost of eligible activities, not the advertised library size. Automatic renewal, specialty exclusions, and certificate access can change the result.
Choosing providers · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN
No-Test Nursing CE: What the Label Does and Does Not Mean
No-test CE usually describes an activity without a traditional scored post-test, not an activity without completion requirements. You may still need to document participation, complete an evaluation, or demonstrate learning another way. Verify the specific activity and your board's rules before relying on the label.
Reporting & records · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN
CE Broker Reporting: Verify Your Florida Nursing Transcript
Florida uses CE Broker to track continuing-education compliance, but completing a course and seeing it correctly reflected in your record are separate events. Provider submissions can be delayed, held, rejected, or require additional identifying information. Check your own transcript and keep certificates even when a provider reports for you.
Reporting & records · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN, Nurse educator
Contact Hours vs. CEUs: Read Nursing Credit Correctly
Conventionally, one continuing education unit, or CEU, represents 10 contact hours. Nursing renewal rules often specify contact hours instead, and a contact hour commonly reflects 50 to 60 minutes of educational activity under the applicable definition. Use the unit and amount actually awarded, then check your board's wording.
Reporting & records · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN, Nurse educator
Nursing CE Certificates and Audit Records: Build a Defensible File
A useful CE record connects you, an eligible activity, the awarded credit, and the completion date. Keep certificates independently of provider accounts and verify your board's retention period; many boards require four years or longer. If audited, respond to the actual request with organized evidence rather than a pile of unrelated course records.
State requirements · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN
First Nursing License Renewal: Verify Exceptions Before Buying CE
Some states provide first-renewal exceptions, but the details depend on how you became licensed, your credential, and the renewal circumstances. Texas and Florida illustrate why a first renewal should be checked separately from an ordinary renewal. An exception from general hours does not necessarily remove required topics or other renewal duties.
Licensure & compact · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN, Travel nurse
Multistate Nursing License Basics: Residence, Practice, and Renewal
The Nurse Licensure Compact allows an eligible RN or LPN/VN to hold a multistate license issued by the nurse's primary state of residence and practice in other participating states. A license from a compact state is not automatically multistate. The NLC does not itself authorize APRN practice, and nursing practice generally follows the patient's location.
Licensure & compact · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN, Travel nurses
Changing Your Primary State of Residence as a Nurse
A permanent move can change which state may issue your multistate nursing license. When relocating from one compact state to another, apply for licensure in the new primary state of residence within 60 days; this is an application deadline, not a promise that a license will be issued within that period. You cannot hold two multistate licenses simultaneously.
Licensure & compact · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN, Travel nurses
A CE Planning System for Travel Nurses
Travel nurses need a license-by-license renewal plan, even when one multistate license supports several assignments. Track each actual license's expiration date, education rules, and reporting steps, then maintain one certificate archive. Choose overlapping education only after confirming that every receiving authority accepts it.
State requirements · 4 min read · APRN, RN
How to Evaluate APRN Pharmacology CE Credit
General nursing contact hours and designated APRN pharmacology credit are not interchangeable. Check your nursing board's rules, any prescriptive-authority conditions, and your certification organization's renewal requirements independently. Before enrolling, verify how the provider documents the pharmacology portion on the completion certificate.
State requirements · 4 min read · RN, APRN
New York's Updated Mandated Reporter Training
NYSED announced updated child abuse identification and reporting training requirements with a November 17, 2026 completion date. Its guidance describes an approximately 15-minute addendum option for certain people who completed approved training between November 2022 and August 2025. Confirm your exact applicability and acceptable completion route on NYSED's nursing training page before enrolling.
State requirements · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN
Texas CE Module, Jurisprudence, and Renewal Planning
Beginning September 1, 2026, Texas BON guidance requires nurses renewing or reactivating a license to document applicable continuing competency through the Nurse Portal CE Module. The module is a reporting tool, not another name for a nursing jurisprudence-and-ethics course. Check the Board's renewal page and continuing-education FAQ for your requirements and any first-renewal exception.
Choosing providers · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN, Nurse educators, Employers
Choosing Accessible Nursing CE
Accessible CE should let you learn, complete assessments, and obtain a certificate using the access methods you need. Test the whole course workflow, not just its public homepage, and ask providers for accessibility statements or a current VPAT-based report. We have not independently audited any provider's accessibility.
Employers · 4 min read · Employers, Nurse educators, RN, LPN/LVN, APRN
Buying Nursing CE for an Employer
A group CE plan should be evaluated against your workforce's actual license requirements, not its advertised course count. Compare state and role coverage, seat administration, reporting exports, accessibility, and total contract costs. Keep a separate budget for genuine coverage gaps instead of paying twice for content already available to staff.
Choosing providers · 4 min read · RN, LPN/LVN, APRN, Nurse educators, Employers
How to Evaluate Nursing CE Provider Approvals
Evaluate the specific course's credit statement, not just the provider's marketing badges. ANCC accreditation, a state board provider number, and approval for a mandated topic answer different questions. Verify that the course, approval pathway, completion date, and certificate meet the requirements of the authority receiving your credit.