Ask Nurse Jesse: College Credit for CE

Anonymous Nurse: I am an RN working on my BSN. Do my college credit hours count towards my CE for 2021 renewal of my RN license?  

Nurse Jesse:

Here are the CE requirements for nurses in Ohio, taken straight from the Ohio Board of Nursing’s CE Requirement Info Sheet. I have bolded the section that states the information regarding using academic credit for continuing education contact hours.  

FAQs: General CE Questions/Requirements 

Q: What activities/events meet Board requirements for CE?   

The following summarizes the activities/events that meet the requirements for CE. See Rule 4723-14-05(A), OAC. 

  • A CE activity approved by an OBN approver or provided by an approved provider unit (see list in the response below); 
  • A CE activity approved by a board or agency regulating the licensee or certificate holder in another jurisdiction; 
  • A CE activity approved or provided by a nationally recognized accreditation system of CE, for example, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET)), or a national certifying organization that meets the requirements in Section 4723.46(A), ORC; 
  • Academic credit for successful completion of a course taken through an accredited educational institution, such as a college course. The conversion from academic credit to CE contact hours is: 1 credit hour in a quarter system = 10 contact hours of CE 1 credit hour in a trimester system = 12 contact hours of CE 1 credit 
  • An independent study defined as a self-paced learning activity for which contact hours may be awarded that includes both a mechanism for evaluation of learning and feedback to the learner; 
  • Inter-professional CE that is a planned, organized learning experience designed for a target audience made up of members of two or more different professions; 
  • A CE activity approved by a board or an agency that regulates a health care profession or related discipline in Ohio or another jurisdiction, such as the State of Ohio Medical Board, State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy, State Board of Psychology, and the Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board.