The Rules are as follows:
1.When you apply for an initial license or renew your license you will be asked if you’ve prescribed within the last 2 years.
2. If you have not prescribed medications in 2-5 years, you will need to provide 15 contact hours of pharmacology.
3.If you are reinstating or reactivating your license, the question will ask if you have prescribed in the last 5 years. If the answer is no, you will need to provide 45 contact hours in pharmacology.
4. The requirement in pharmacology must include any drugs than an APRN would prescribe, including opioids. Anesthesia related drugs, such as volatile agents, muscle relaxants, reversal agents, would not be meet this requirement. Only drugs that would be prescribed, such as anti-anxiety medications, antiemetics, opioids and antibiotics.
5. All new nurse anesthesia graduates will be exempt for at least 2 years, since the pharmacology requirement is included in their academic program of study.
6. There are several sites that an applicant can use to complete the necessary number of hours of study as dictated by Chapter 8 Rules and Regulations.
7. All APRNS in our state are treated the same, regardless if a practitioner has full or partial prescriptive authority.
8. No CRNA is exempt, regardless if your practice does or does not include prescribing opioids or having a DEA license.
9.You are required to complete this requirement regardless of where you practice. For example, if you practice in a large trauma one hospital or a rural or critical care hospital, the requirement is the same. If you practice in a supervisory or medical direction model, the requirement is the same.
10.Here is a site for you to obtain the necessary pharmacology requirements at little time or cost. It is: https://www.netce.com/ce-requirements/nursepractitioner/me/. For eg. You can obtain 15 credits/hours if you take the following course on this website: Palliative Care and Pain Management at the End of Life. The cost is $60. Another is Pain Management Pearls: Opioids and Culture. You can obtain 2 credits/hours for $15.00. There are many resources for you to obtain the necessary credit hours for this requirement. Such as, Pri-Med offers free pain management continuing education at pri.med.com. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention offers free courses on Antibiotic Prescribing and Use https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/training/continuing-education.html. You can also meet this requirement by reading journals that feature articles on the subject. Fifty minutes of participation equals 1 contact hour. You would need to submit the journal index, designate which article you read, date and provide the amount of time spent in reading the article.
11.Renewal of your license is every 2 years.
12. All APRNS in Me are required to complete in total 50 CEUs/contact hours.