Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a professional med traveler? First, you go to school, learn your nursing specialty, gain some clinical experience, and then set off for the adventure of a lifetime…if only it were that easy.

Fusion Medical Staffing CEU Resources for Travel Nurses

Sure, that’s the start of your journey. But, in order to maintain your status as a travel nurse, you also need to keep up with your CEUs, or continued education units. What are these CEU things, you ask? Let us explain.

CEs, CEUs, CNEs—what’s the difference?

Wait—CE who? CEU! You may have also heard of continuing education (CE) or continuing nursing education (CNE). They’re all very common, and yet, have their differences:

CEs, CNEs, and CEUs are all important for travel nurses to keep up with. It’s through continued education that you learn new and improved procedures, treatments, medications, and technologies. Plus, get all the details on current facts, data, protocols, techniques, and knowledge that will help take your travel nursing career to the next level.

The most important thing when it comes to CEs, CNEs, and CEUs is to ensure you’re getting them through an accredited organization. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) sets rigorous requirements and standards for education providers to follow. That way, the ANCC can ensure organizations are offering evidence-based and unbiased educational materials. It would be a bummer to go through educational training just to find out the organization isn’t accredited so your CEU doesn’t count. So, do your research ahead of time and set yourself up for success!

State travel nursing CEU requirements

If you want to keep your travel nursing licenses, then you have to complete a certain number of CEUs, says the U.S. government. The amount of CEUs you need to complete as a registered nurse (RN) depends on the state you live in, aka the state that’s on your driver’s license or state ID. And if you hold a compact nursing license, then your CEU requirements are also determined by your home state.

Here’s a quick rundown of each state’s RN CEU requirements:

• Alabama: 24 contact hours every two years
• Alaska: Two of the three are required every two years: 30 contact hours, 30 hours professional nursing activities, 320 hours nursing employment
• Arizona: No CE required
• Arkansas: 15 contact hours every two years OR hold a current nationally recognized certification/recertification OR complete one college credit hour course in nursing
• California: 30 contact hours every two years
• Colorado: No CE required
• Connecticut: No CE required
• District of Columbia: 24 contact hours every two years
• Delaware: 30 contact hours every two years
• Florida: 24 contact hours every two years. Must include: Two hours for medical errors, two hours for state laws and rules, one hour HIV/AIDs CE, two additional hours of domestic violence CE every third renewal for a total of 26 hours
• Georgia: 30 CEs every two years
• Hawaii: 30 CEs every two years
• Idaho: 15 contact hours of continuing education
• Illinois: 20 contact hours every two years
• Indiana: No CE required
• Iowa: 36 contact hours every three years, plus mandatory Dependent Adult Abuse Mandatory Reporter Training and DS 169 Child Abuse Reporter Training
• Kansas: 30 contact hours every two years
• Kentucky: 14 contact hours every year, including Abusive Head Trauma
• Louisiana: Minimum of 30 hours OR a minimum of 900 practice hours every two years
• Maine: No CE required
• Maryland: No CE required, but an approved refresher course is needed
• Massachusetts: 15 contact hours every two years
• Michigan: 25 contact hours every two years, including one hour on pain and symptom management and two hours on human trafficking
• Minnesota: 24 contact hours every two years
• Mississippi: No CE required
• Missouri: No CE required
• Montana: 24 contact hours every two years
• Nebraska: 20 contact hours every two years, plus 500 practice hours every five years
• Nevada: 30 contact hours every two years, including state-required bioterrorism course
• New Hampshire: 30 contact hours every two years and 400 practice hours every four years
• New Jersey: 30 contact hours every two years
• New Mexico: 30 contact hours every two years
• New York: Three contact hours infection control every four years, plus two contact hours child abuse and sexual harassment
• North Carolina: Choose one every two years, 15 contact hours and 640 hours of active practice, national certification or recertification, 30 contact hours, completion of refresher course, 15 contact hours, plus various other nursing-related activities
• North Dakota: 12 contact hours every two years
• Ohio: Greater than 24 contact hours every two years
• Oklahoma: 24 contact hours every two years
• Oregon: One-time requirement for seven hours of pain management-related CE
• Pennsylvania: 30 contact hours every two years, including mandatory child abuse course
• Rhode Island: 10 contact hours every two years, including two hours of substance abuse CE
• South Carolina: 30 contact hours every two years
• South Dakota: No CE required
• Tennessee: Five contact hours every year for practicing nurses
• Texas: 20 contact hours every two years, including Forensic Evidence Collection for Nurses and Nursing Jurisprudence and Ethics for Texas Nurses
• Utah: Choose one of the following every two years, 30 contact hours, 200 practice hours and 15 contact hours, 400 practice hours
• Vermont: No CE required
• Virginia: 15 contact hours every two years
• Washington: 45 hours of CE every three years
• West Virginia: 12 contact hours every two years, with mandatory mental health training for veterans and their families
• Wisconsin: No CE required
• Wyoming: Pick one of the following: 500 practice hours in the last two years, 1600 practice hours in the last five years, 20 contact hours in the last two years, completion of a refresher course in the last five years, certification in a nursing specialty area by national accrediting agency in the last five years, pass the NCLEX in the last five years

How do I complete my CEUs?

So now you know what’s expected of you as a travel nurse. How do you complete these CEUs? Thankfully, you have options!

The most popular (and convenient) option is to get your CEUs online. Luckily, with rapidly advancing technology, you can attend online conferences, webinars, and workshops to earn CEUs. The Internet is cool.

Here are some CEU resources for you to look into. You should know, there’s a lot more out there, so it would benefit you to do your own research to see what you can find, too!

Nurse.com

• Features a myriad of free course options
• Has a specialized “Focused CE Series”
• Easy to navigate, user-friendly site
  
  Learn more at Nurse.com

CEU Fast

• More than 100 courses available
• Nationally accredited
• High-quality customer service
• 30-day money back guarantee
• Free trial period
  
  Learn more at CEU Fast

Click Play CEU

• Fun, entertaining videos that help you earn CEUs
• Convenient, on-the-go courses
• Certified in all 50 states
• 90-day money back guarantee

Learn more at Click Play CEU

RN.org

• Convenient list of nursing resources
• Features a full course catalog, state-specific courses, free courses, and more
• Comprehensive list of state-by-state hours required, and online hours accepted

Learn more at RN.org

American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)

• Check out extensive course lists for accreditation, certification, and other programs
• Has additional field-specific nursing resources
• Easy to navigate, user-friendly site
  
  Learn more at American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)

Getting your CEUs can be a fun learning experience! And now that you have more online options, you can complete your education units when it’s convenient for you.

Keeping up on your CEUs is vital as a travel nurse. Things change quickly in the medical world and you have to be in the know when it comes to the quality, safety, and effectiveness of patient care. Plus, more education can mean more opportunities to grow your nursing expertise.

Not only do CEUs help you stay licensed and certified so you can continue to practice and do what you love, but they also open new avenues for your nursing career to blossom and grow.