1. (a) A nurse must meet either the requirements of this subsection or subsection (b) of this section. A nurse may choose to complete 20 contact hours of continuing education within the two years immediately preceding renewal of registration in his or her area of practice. These hours shall be obtained by participation in programs approved by a credentialing agency recognized by the board. A list of these agencies/organizations may be obtained from the board's office or web site.
2. (b) A nurse must meet either the requirements of this subsection or subsection (a) of this section. A nurse may choose to demonstrate the achievement, maintenance, or renewal of an approved national nursing certification in the nurse's area of practice. A list of approved national nursing certification criteria may be obtained from the board's office or web site.

3. (c) Requirements for the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse. The licensee authorized by the board as an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) is required to obtain 20 contact hours of continuing education or attain, maintain or renew the national certification recognized by the board as meeting the certification requirement for the advanced practice registered nurse's role and population focus area of licensure within the previous two years of licensure. National certification as discussed in this section will only meet the requirement for licensure renewal.

   1. (1) The required hours are not in addition to the requirements of subsection (a) or (b) of this section.
   2. (2) The 20 contact hours of continuing education must be appropriate to the advanced specialty area and role recognized by the board.
   3. (3) The APRN who holds prescriptive authority must complete, in addition to the requirements of this subsection, at least five additional contact hours of continuing education in pharmacotherapeutics.
   4. (4) Category I Continuing Medical Education (CME) contact hours will meet requirements as described in this chapter.

4. (d) Forensic Evidence Collection.

   1. (1) Each nurse licensed in Texas and employed in an emergency room (ER) setting on or after September 1, 2006 shall complete a minimum of two hours of continuing education relating to forensic evidence collection, as required by the Occupations Code §301.306 and this subsection:

      1. (A) by September 1, 2008 for nurses to whom this requirement applies who are employed in an ER setting on or before September 1, 2006; or
      2. (B) within two years of the initial date of employment in an ER setting. This requirement may be met through completion of approved continuing education activities, as set forth in §216.4 of this chapter (relating to Criteria for Acceptable Continuing Education Activity).

   2. (2) This requirement shall apply to nurses who work in an ER setting that is:

      1. (A) the nurse's home unit;
      2. (B) an ER unit to which the nurse "floats" or schedules shifts; or
      3. (C) a nurse employed under contractual, temporary, per diem, agency, traveling, or other employment relationship whose duties include working in an ER.
   3. (3) A licensed nurse in Texas who would otherwise be exempt from CE requirements during the nurse's initial licensure or first renewal periods under §216.8(b) or (c) of this chapter (relating to Relicensure Process) shall comply with the requirements of this section. This is a one-time requirement for each nurse employed in an ER setting. In compliance with §216.7(b) of this chapter (relating to Responsibilities of Individual Licensee), each licensee is responsible for maintaining records of CE attendance. Validation of course completion in Forensic Evidence Collection should be retained by the nurse indefinitely, even if a nurse changes employment.
   4. (4) The minimum 2 hours of continuing education requirement shall include information relevant to forensic evidence collection and age or population-specific nursing interventions that may be required by other laws and/or are necessary in order to assure evidence collection that meets requirements under the Government Code §420.031 regarding use of a service-approved evidence collection kit and protocol. Content may also include but is not limited to documentation, history-taking skills, use of sexual assault kit, survivor symptoms, and emotional and psychological support interventions for victims.
   5. (5) The required hours under this subsection are included in the continuing education requirements for nurses.

5. (e) A nurse who is 65 years old or older and who holds or is seeking to hold a valid volunteer retired (VR) nurse authorization in compliance with the Occupations Code §112.051 and §217.9(d) of this title (relating to Inactive Status):

   1. (1) Must have completed at least 10 hours of continuing education as defined in this chapter during the previous biennium, unless the nurse also holds valid recognition as an advanced practice registered nurse or is a Volunteer Retired Registered Nurse (VR-RN) with advanced practice authorization in a given role and specialty in the State of Texas.
   2. (2) Must have completed at least 20 hours of CE as defined in this chapter if authorized by the board in a specific advanced practice role and specialty. The 20 hours of CE must meet the same criteria as APRN CE defined under subsection (c) of this section. An APRN authorized as a VR-RN with APRN authorization may not hold prescriptive authority. This does not preclude a registered nurse from placing his/her APRN authorization on inactive status and applying for authorization only as a VR-RN.
   3. (3) Is exempt from fulfilling targeted CE requirements except as required for volunteer retired advanced practice registered nurses.

Source Note:The provisions of this §216.3 adopted to be effective August 16, 2009, 34 TexReg 5524; amended to be effective October 4, 2010, 35 TexReg 8917.