Contact Hours and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) A contact hour is defined as 50 consecutive clock minutes of participation in a board-approved nursing continuing education class or activity. One Continuing Education Unit (CEU) equals ten contact hours. Many continuing nursing education courses are measured by CEUs to fulfill the nursing program continuing education requirements.
How to Earn Continuing Education (CE) Credits You can attend a variety of conferences, seminars and/or workshops, or you can enroll in correspondence or online continuing education courses as well as online nursing programs.  College Class Credits and CE Requirements If you're wondering whether the college class you're taking will count toward your CE requirement, you can be reassured that, in many cases, it will. As long as the academic class you're taking is relevant to nursing practice, the class will count toward your CE requirement. One quarter hour of academic credit equals 10 contact hours, and one semester hour of academic credit equals 15 contact hours of continuing education. Directory of Online CEU Providers Non-Nursing CE Activities Counting Toward CE Requirements Most boards of nursing will allow nurses to complete CE courses designed for other health care professionals if you can provide a statement explaining how the course relates to your nursing practice. You should be sure to check with your state board before enrolling in a CE activity not specifically designed for nurses, however.
Activities That Won't Count Toward the CE Requirement In general, continuing education requirements may not be satisfied by activities that are part of your normal, ongoing job responsibilities. This means that you can't satisfy your CE requirement with on-the-job clinical practice, by participating in the development of policies and/or presentations specific to your job, or by attending business meetings and/or employee-orientation activities. Directory of Online CEU Providers CE Programs Approved by State Boards of Nursing Most boards of nursing will accept a wide variety of continuing education activities in fulfillment of the CE requirement. However, because each board has a slightly different way of determining approved programs, you will need to check with your state board of nursing in order to figure out whether or not a specific program will satisfy its requirements.
Sending Records of Completion to State Boards of Nursing You do not need to send CE records to your board of nursing unless you're being audited. Otherwise, it's a good idea to keep records of your CE completion for at least two consecutive license registration periods. (Check with your board of nursing for specific record-keeping requirements.) You only need to report your CE activities to your state board of nursing when you renew your nursing license. Directory of Online CEU Providers | List of State Nursing Boards
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