Tennessee is one of the best places to live and work if you plan to pursue a career as a healthcare professional. The average base salary for a registered nurse in Tennessee is over $110,000. It means living and working as a registered nurse in Tennessee sets you up to earn almost 20% above the national average of what registered nurses earn in the country.
Despite the lucrative career opportunities for registered nurses, the state is going through a significant nursing shortage. Kirk Lawson, the executive director of the Tennessee Nurses Association, has said that the state is now at the “… point of calling it a crisis, not only in Tennessee, but throughout the country.”
In times like these, there is a need for more professionals to join the ranks. In addition, nurses currently registered in Tennessee must maintain their licenses and prevent them from lapsing. To continue practicing, registered nurses must renew their credentials within the renewal period.
You must understand the nursing board’s requirements for license renewal in Tennessee. From determining the renewal application period deadline to the steps to renew your license, this guide will cover what you must know to streamline the process.
How to Renew Your Registered Nurse License in Tennessee
Every state’s nursing board sets its requirements for license holders to qualify for renewal. To maintain your current license, you must fulfill the board’s nursing continuing education requirements, fill out an application for renewal, and file it with the Tennessee Board of Nursing before the renewal period ends. This section of the guide will explore all three steps for renewing your registered nurse license in Tennessee.
Step 1: Identify the Registered Nurse License Renewal Application Deadline
Nursing boards throughout the country provide licenses that expire every two to three years. In Tennessee, a registered nurse’s license expires every two years. You can submit the application to renew your license up to 60 days before it lapses.
Fortunately, missing your application deadline will not be an issue if you hold a registered nurse license in Tennessee. The Tennessee Board of Nursing’s administrative office sends out renewal notices to license holders 45 days before their license expires. Once the notification is sent out, it is up to license holder to renew their credentials on time.
If you changed your contact information after initially receiving your license, it is your responsibility to update your information with the nursing board so that you do not miss the application deadline.
Step 2: Complete Your Nursing Continuing Education Requirements
Nursing boards throughout the country define various Nurse CEU requirements that nursing professionals must fulfill within renewal periods. These requirements are essential to ensuring that license holders are current with the latest developments in healthcare techniques and policies.
Completing a required number of contact hours through nursing continuing education courses is critical to qualify for license renewal. In Tennessee, registered nurses currently practicing must complete at least five contact hours of nursing continuing education courses to qualify for a renewal.
If you are a registered nurse with an active license but are not currently practicing, you must complete at least 10 contact hours of nurse continuing education courses. When submitting your license renewal application, the board will require you to provide proof that you have fulfilled its nurse ceu requirements. You must hold onto the certification you receive for completing nursing continuing education courses.
Step 3: File Your License Renewal Application
Once you complete the nursing continued education requirements set by the Tennessee Board of Nursing, you must complete and file the license renewal application. To access the application for license renewal, you must visit the board’s official website here. After accessing your account, you must fill in the information, pay online using your preferred method, and complete the process. After that, the board will contact you with confirmation and issue the renewed license. If you’re unsure about the status of your registered nurse license, you can check the status on Nursys.
Understand the Licensed Renewal Requirements for Registered Nurses
In most states, completing a required number of contact hours of nursing continuing education courses is enough to fulfill your nursing CEU requirements. When applying for the renewal, license holders typically do not need to provide proof of their continuing education certifications. However, the Tennessee Board of Nursing is very particular about confirming whether license holders have fulfilled the prerequisites.
When you file your renewal application with the board, it will ask you to confirm whether you have completed the continuing education requirement. If you are a registered nurse who is currently practicing, you need to submit certification proving you did five contact hours of nursing continuing education courses. For those not currently practicing, the requirement is for 10 contact hours.
In addition to proof of completed contact hours, you will be asked to provide other proof, including:
- Satisfactory evaluation letter copy by the employer, a peer, and a patient.
- The copy of a contract of re-appointment or renewal for a nursing position.
- Any evidence proving your current national certification.
- If you volunteered as a nurse with an agency, a letter from it proving that you did.
- A document identifying two goals as a nurse and how you met them.
- A self-evaluation based on competence standards listed in the rules.
- An official transcript that proves at least two hours of nursing credit.
- Proof that you successfully retookthe NCLEX.
To learn more about the nursing continuing education requirements to qualify for license renewal in Tennessee, visit www.fastceforless.com/nursing-ce-tennessee.
For convenient, affordable, and tailor-made course bundles to help you fulfill your nursing continuing education requirements, online nursing CEUs like those offered by Fast CE For Less are available at www.fastceforless.com.
