Requires 45 hours of mandatory continuing education in a three year period for registered professional nurses; permits exemptions for illness, military duty and nurses who are not engaged in the practice.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A1093
SPONSOR: Paulin
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to mandatory continuing
education for nurses
 
PURPOSE:
To promote competence and accountability in nurses by requiring regis-
tered professional nurses to complete 45 hours of continuing education
every 3 years.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
The bill amends the education law by adding a new section 6912 to
require registered professional nurses to complete 45 hours of continu-
ing education in each triennial registration period.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
This legislation will mandate continuing education for nurses at a mini-
mum of 45 hours of acceptable formal continuing education every three
years. This requirement will provide nurses with the most current educa-
tional information in their field and ensure that they continue high
levels of professional competence.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.3961, 2021 and 2022, referred to higher education. A.417A, 2020
referred to higher education, amended and recommitted to higher educa-
tion, print number 417A. A.417, 2019 referred to higher education.
A.3654, 2017 and 2018, referred to higher education. A.4060, 2015 and
2016, referred to higher education. Same as S.222, 2015, committed to
finance. A.1281, 2013 and 2014 referred to higher education. A.9910 of
2012, referred to higher education.. Same as S.3738-B, reported to
finance.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Nurses will pay a $45 fee to the State Education Department to cover the
administrative costs associated with implementing this requirement.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect January 1, 2020.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1093
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 13, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, DINOWITZ, GUNTHER, MAGNARELLI, WEPRIN,
STECK, L. ROSENTHAL, FAHY, LAVINE, CARROLL, WOERNER -- Multi-Sponsored
by -- M. of A. FRIEND, LUPARDO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to mandatory continuing
education for nurses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 6912
2 to read as follows:
3 § 6912. Mandatory continuing education for registered professional
4 nurses. 1. (a) Each licensed registered professional nurse required
5 under this article to register triennially with the department to prac-
6 tice in the state shall comply with provisions of the mandatory continu-
7 ing education requirements prescribed in subdivision two of this section
8 except as set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subdivision. Nurs-
9 es who do not satisfy the mandatory continuing education requirements
10 shall not practice until they have met such requirements, and have been
11 issued a registration certificate, except that a nurse may practice
12 without having met such requirements if he or she is issued a condi-
13 tional registration certificate pursuant to subdivision three of this
14 section.
15 (b) Registered professional nurses shall be exempt from the mandatory
16 continuing education requirement for the triennial registration period
17 during which they are first licensed. In accord with the intent of this
18 section, adjustment to the mandatory continuing education requirement
19 may be granted by the department for reasons of health certified by an
20 appropriate health care professional, for extended active duty with the
21 armed forces of the United States, or for other good cause acceptable to
22 the department which may prevent compliance.
23 (c) A licensed registered professional nurse not engaged in practice
24 as determined by the department, shall be exempt from the mandatory
25 continuing education requirement upon the filing of a statement with the
26 department declaring such status. Any licensee who returns to the prac-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02169-01-3
A. 1093 2
1 tice of registered professional nursing during the triennial registra-
2 tion period shall notify the department prior to reentering the profes-
3 sion and shall meet such mandatory education requirements as shall be
4 prescribed by regulations of the commissioner.
5 2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for regis-
6 tration shall complete a minimum of forty-five hours of acceptable
7 formal continuing education, as specified in subdivision four of this
8 section. Any registered professional nurse whose first registration date
9 following the effective date of this section occurs less than three
10 years from such effective date, shall complete continuing education
11 hours on a prorated basis at the rate of one and one quarter hour per
12 month for the period beginning January first, two thousand twenty-four
13 up to the first registration date thereafter. A licensee who has not
14 satisfied the mandatory continuing education requirements shall not be
15 issued a triennial registration certificate by the department and shall
16 not practice unless and until a conditional registration certificate is
17 issued as provided for in subdivision three of this section.
18 3. The department, in its discretion, may issue a conditional regis-
19 tration to a licensee who fails to meet the continuing education
20 requirements established in subdivision two of this section but who
21 agrees to make up any deficiencies and complete any additional education
22 which the department may require. The fee for such a conditional regis-
23 tration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee for the trien-
24 nial registration. The duration of such conditional registration shall
25 be determined by the department but shall not exceed one year. Any
26 licensee who is notified of the denial of registration for failure to
27 submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, of required continuing
28 education and who practices registered professional nursing without such
29 registration, may be subject to disciplinary proceedings pursuant to
30 section sixty-five hundred ten of this title.
31 4. As used in subdivision two of this section, "acceptable formal
32 continuing education" shall mean formal courses of learning that are
33 acceptable to the department, including courses in an accredited and
34 approved registered professional nursing degree or certificate program
35 and courses provided by any of the following organizations:
36 (a) a nationally accredited provider of nursing continuing education;
37 (b) an organization or agency that is approved by a nationally accred-
38 ited provider of nursing continuing education;
39 (c) a school of nursing approved by the department;
40 (d) a national nursing organization; or
41 (e) a provider of continuing education that is recognized by another
42 state's board of nursing.
43 5. Registered professional nurses shall maintain adequate documenta-
44 tion of completion of acceptable formal continuing education and shall
45 provide such documentation at the request of the department.
46 6. The mandatory continuing education fee shall be forty-five dollars,
47 shall be payable on or before the first day of each triennial registra-
48 tion period, and shall be paid in addition to the triennial registration
49 fee required by section sixty-nine hundred five of this article.
50 § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2024. Effective immediate-
51 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
52 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
53 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.