Continuing education requirements

(a) Each licensee shall be responsible for identifying and his own continuing education needs, taking the initiative in seeking continuing professional education requirements. activities to meet those needs, and integrating new knowledge and skills into his duties. (b) Individuals who are newly licensed as a nursing home or ICF/MR ICF/IID administrators or certified as Assistant Administrators are required to successfully complete continuing education hours equivalent to a rate of two (2) hours per month, beginning with the month following the month his license/certificate is issued, for each month he holds the license/certificate during the current licensing year. For certified assistant administrators, this is a condition of employment. (1) Individuals who are newly licensed as RC/AL administrators are required to successfully complete continuing education hours equivalent to a rate of one and one-half (1.5) hours per month, beginning with the month following the month their license is issued, for each month they hold the license during the current licensing year. (2) Individuals who are newly licensed as RC only administrators are required to successfully complete continuing education hours equivalent to a rate of 1.3 hours per month, rounded up to the next half hour increment (e.g., 1.3 = 1.5; 2.6 = 3), beginning with the month following the month their license is issued, for each month they hold the license during the current licensing year. (3) Individuals who are newly licensed as Adult Day Care administrators are required to successfully complete continuing education hours equivalent to a rate of one (1) hour per month, beginning with the month following the month their license is issued, for each month they hold the license during the current licensing year. (c) Licensees shall complete Continuing Education Units (CEUs) as follows: (1) Tier one (1) licensees and certified CAAs shall holding a nursing home administrator license and Certified Assistant Administrators shall successfully complete twenty-four (24) clock hours of continuing education (commonly referred to as CEUs or continuing education units) during each license licensing year. For Certified Assistant Administrators this shall be a condition of employment. (1) (2) Tier 2 RC/AL administrators shall successfully complete eighteen (18) sixteen (16) clock hours of continuing education during each licensing license year. (2) Residential Care administrators shall successfully complete sixteen (16) clock hours of continuing education during each licensing year. (3) (3) Licensed Tier 2 Adult Day Care Administrators shall successfully complete twelve (12) sixteen (16) clock hours of continuing education during each license licensing year. (4) Licensed Tier 2 ICF/IID-16 administrators shall successfully complete sixteen (16) clock hours of continuing education during each license year. (d) (c) Licensees/certificate License and certificate holders are responsible for maintaining their own continuing education CEU records. (e) (d) Required CEUs must be completed within the licensure period. Carry-over of continuing education hours earned in one licensing year that were in excess of the hours required for that year to a subsequent licensing year is not permitted. (f) (e) Credit will only be given once per approved program for each licensure period; duplication of credit for the same course is not permissible in the same licensure year. Licensed administrators who 20 have attended and received credit for previously approved program content shall be denied credit for attending subsequent duplicate programs in the same calendar year. (g) (f) A written request for an extension may be submitted to the Department when a license or certificate holder cannot meet the requirements for continuing education due to illness, emergency, or other hardship. Extension requests will be reviewed by the Department and determinations made on a case-by-case basis. A licensee/certificate holder who cannot meet the continuing education requirement due to illness, emergency or hardship may petition the Board, in writing, requesting a waiver of the clock hour requirement. Any such waiver request must be received and acted- upon by the Board. The waiver request shall explain why compliance is not possible, and include appropriate documentation. In the event of more broadly scaled events that, in the judgment of the Board, affect large groups or the whole of the profession, the Board may take action to temporarily alter or waive CE requirements for those larger groups or all licensees for a specified time period. (h) (g) CEU documentation must be uploaded in the online renewal portal at the time of renewal for review by the Department. Renewal applicants must complete CEUs prior to the Department issuing a renewal to the renewal applicant. In the event a licensee fails to provide the Board, upon request, with documentation that the continuing education requirements have been met, the licensee will be subject to sanction by the Board, which may include suspension or revocation of his license. This is considered a reportable offense on the first offense and will appear as a violation in the Registry and NPDB. (i) (h) All licensees, even those subject to enforcement action, are required to complete continuing education. A licensee whose license is suspended by the Board for disciplinary reasons is not exempt from the continuing education requirements, and must, therefore, successfully complete the required number of continuing education hours commensurate with his license/certificate type during any licensing year(s) in which his license is under suspension. Licensee shall, upon Board request, furnish documentation that the continuing education requirements have been met. Failure to provide such requested documentation shall subject licensee to sanction by the Board, including further suspension or revocation of his license. (j) All CE hours earned for programs approved by the NCERS/NAB or approved by the Board may be utilized by a licensee for purposes of meeting the annual CE requirement in the licensing period in which the hours were earned. (i) Continuing education requirement hours will be required for first year license and certificate holders are: (1) Tier 1 administrators and certified CAAs shall be required to complete six (6) hours of continuing education for each quarter in which they hold a license. (2) Licensed Tier 2 administrators shall be required to complete four and a half (4) hours of continuing education for each quarter in which they hold a license.