With its tranquil atmosphere, scenic beauty, and some of the country’s best healthcare facilities, Rhode Island is an excellent place to live and work as a healthcare professional. In Rhode Island, the average registered nurse earns $98,374 per year, matching the national average. With access to an amazing quality of life and lucrative employment opportunities, being a registered nurse in Rhode Island can be terrific.
A growing staffing shortage among registered nurses in Rhode Island is another good reason to live and work there. Rhode Island’s healthcare industry is facing a growing crisis. As of October 2023, there was a 10% staffing shortfall among registered nurses in the state.
The State of Rhode Island Department of Health is enacting measures to curb the staffing shortage. While these measures will help; currently licensed registered nurses in the state must also play their part in upholding Rhode Island’s healthcare system. If you are a registered nurse in Rhode Island, you must maintain your current license by renewing it before it expires.
Fast CE For Less has created this guide to explore the nursing board requirements for license renewal in Rhode Island. From explaining the application deadline to the nursing continuing education course requirements to qualify for renewed credentials, this guide will help you streamline the process when it is time for you to renew yours.
How to Renew Your Registered Nurse License in Rhode Island
Nursing boards do not issue permanent licenses to registered nurses anywhere in the country. Instead, they offer licenses that expire once every two to three years.
For registered nurses, renewing their credentials involves more than submitting an application to the State of Rhode Island Department of Health. To qualify for renewed credentials, license holders must determine their application deadline, fulfill nurse continuing education requirements within that deadline, complete the renewal form, and pay for the renewal fee.
This section of the guide will explore the different steps to renew your registered nurse license in Rhode Island.
Step 1: Identify the Deadline to Submit Your Application for License Renewal
The first and most important step to renew your credentials is to identify when you must submit your completed application. Nursing boards set their own renewal periods for license holders within their jurisdictions. The renewal period for registered nurses lasts two to three years, depending on the state.
The State of Rhode Island Department of Health has set the renewal period for two years in Rhode Island. Every registered nurse license expires on March 1st, every two years after the board issues the original license. If you receive your initial license after March 1st of a particular even-numbered year, it will expire on March 1st in the next even-numbered year.
To ensure you do not miss the deadline, the board sends out notifications reminding license holders to renew their credentials 60 days before the application deadline. To renew your credentials, you must fulfill your nursing CEU requirements, fill out your application, and submit it to the board within the deadline. Otherwise, your license can lapse, forcing you to go through the lengthier and more expensive process of reinstating it.
Step 2: Complete the Nurse continuing Education Requirements for License Renewal
Nursing boards set continuing competency requirements that license holders must fulfill within their respective renewal periods. This can involve getting certifications from an approved body, completing a required number of practice hours, completing contact hours through nurse continuing education courses, or a combination of these.
In Rhode Island, a registered nurse must complete ten contact hours of nursing continuing education courses during their renewal periods. Additionally, they must ensure that they complete at least two credit hours of nurse continuing education courses on substance abuse.
Step 3: Complete the Application to Renew Your Registered Nurse License
After completing your nursing CEU requirements, you must fill out the application to renew your registered nurse license in Rhode Island. Fortunately, you can complete the form and payment online. Visit the State of Rhode Island Department of Health’s official website to access the license renewal portal here. Next, click the “Register A Person” link on the login page.
Once you access your account, click the option to renew your license, follow the prompts, and fill out the application. To complete the process, you must pay $135 to the board online. While the board will not ask you to provide certification proving you completed the necessary contact hours, you must retain the documents. In case the board conducts a random audit, you must have the documents ready to present to them.
Understand the Nurse Continuing Education Requirements for License Renewal
The different nursing boards in the country issue licenses to registered nurses that expire every two to three years. The time between receiving the license and its expiry is called the renewal period. During each renewal period, license holders must fulfill certain requirements set by the nursing board in their state to prove their continuing competency.
Continuing competency requirements for registered nurses are different based on the state in which they practice and hold their license. It can be completing a required number of contact hours of nursing continuing education courses, a number of practice hours defined by the board, or a combination of both.
In Rhode Island, registered nurses must complete at least ten contact hours of nurse CEUs from a provider approved by the board. They must also ensure that two of those contact hours are on substance abuse. Additionally, registered nurses must complete an hour of continuing education on Alzheimer’s disease at least once in their career. To learn more about the continuing competency requirements for license renewal in Rhode Island, visit www.fastceforless.com/nursing-ce-rhode-island.
If the time to renew your license is near and you have yet to complete your nursing continuing education requirements, online nursing CEUs like those offered by Fast CE For Less offer an excellent solution. We offer quick, easy, and affordable courses conveniently organized into bundles to help you with your license renewal. Visit www.fastceforless.com.
