(a) General. Each respiratory care practitioner is
required to complete 24 contact hours of approved continuing education
(CE) every two (2) years as a condition of renewal of a certificate.
At least 12 contact hours must be in traditional courses. Of the required
contact hours, a course in human trafficking prevention approved by
the executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services
Commission must be completed. The remainder of contact hours may be
in non-traditional courses or from passage of examinations detailed
in subsection (b)(3) of this section. At least 2 contact hours must
be in ethics. These ethics hours may be completed via traditional
courses or non-traditional courses. The board shall credit completion
of the human trafficking prevention course toward required ethics
hours.
(1) A contact hour shall be 60 minutes of attendance
and participation in an acceptable continuing education experience.
(2) A retired respiratory care practitioner providing
only voluntary charity care who is approved by the advisory board
for renewal may complete reduced CE requirements equal to half of
the number of CE hours required for renewal for a certified respiratory
care practitioner.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this subsection,
completion of one academic semester unit or hour that is a part of
the curriculum of a respiratory care education program or a similar
education program in another health-care related field offered by
an accredited institution shall be credited 15 contact hours of non-traditional
CE.
(4) No CE hours may be carried over from one renewal
period to another renewal period.
(b) Types of acceptable continuing education. Continuing
education must be in skills relevant to the practice of respiratory
care and must have a direct benefit to patients and clients and shall
be acceptable if the experience falls in one or more of the following
categories:
(1) Traditional CE. Provider-directed educational activities
directly related to the profession of respiratory care that require
the learner and provider to interact in real time, including, but
not limited to, live lectures, courses, seminars, workshops, review
sessions, or distance learning activities such as webcasts, videoconferences,
and audio conferences in which the learner can interact with the provider.
Traditional CE must be approved, recognized, accepted, or assigned
CE credit by a professional organization or association (such as TSRC,
NBRC or AARC) or offered by a federal, state, or local government
entity.
(2) Non-traditional CE.
(A) Self-directed study directly related to the profession
of respiratory care that does not include interaction between the
learner and the instructor. A test at the conclusion of the self-directed
study is required. Non-traditional CE must be approved, recognized,
accepted, or assigned CE credit by a professional organization or
association (such as TSRC, NBRC or AARC) or offered by a federal,
state, or local government entity.
(B) A respiratory care practitioner who teaches or
instructs a CE course shall be credited one (1) contact hour in non-traditional
CE for each contact hour actually taught. CE credit will be given
only once for teaching a particular course.
(C) A respiratory care practitioner who teaches or
instructs a course in a respiratory care educational program accredited
by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care or other accrediting
body approved by the board shall be credited one (1) contact hour
in non-traditional CE for each contact hour actually taught. CE credit
will be given only once per renewal period for teaching a particular
course.
(3) Passage of an official credentialing or proctored
self-evaluation examination, as follows:
(A) NBRC Therapist Multiple Choice (TMC) credentialing
or re-credentialing examination - 10 contact hours;
(B) NBRC Clinical Simulation Examination (credentialing
or re-credentialing) - 10 contact hours;
(C) NBRC Neonatal/Pediatric Respiratory Care Specialist
(NPS) examination (credentialing or re-credentialing) - 10 contact
hours;
(D) NBRC Adult Critical Care Specialist (ACCS) examination
(credentialing or re-credentialing) - 10 contact hours;
(E) NBRC Sleep Disorder Specialist (SDS) examination
(credentialing or re-credentialing) - 10 contact hours;
(F) NBRC Certified Pulmonary Function Technologist
(CPFT) examination or NBRC Registered Pulmonary Function Technologist
(RPFT) examination (credentialing or re-credentialing) - 10 contact
hours;
(G) Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists
(BRPT) registration examination (credentialing or re-credentialing)
- 10 contact hours;
(H) National Asthma Educator Certification Board (NAECB)
Certified Asthma Educator (AE-C) examination (credentialing or re-credentialing)
- 10 contact hours;
(I) Advanced cardiac life-support (ACLS), pediatric
advanced life-support (PALS), neonatal advanced life-support (NALS)
or neonatal resuscitation program (NRP), basic trauma life-support,
or pre-hospital trauma life-support (credentialing or re-credentialing)
- 8 contact hours;
(J) Examinations listed in subparagraphs (A) - (I)
of this paragraph may be counted only once for credit. If an initial
credentialing examination is counted towards fulfillment of CE requirements,
the same examination taken later for re-credentialing purposes may
only be applied towards fulfillment of CE requirements once every
three (3) renewal periods.
(c) Verification of continuing education. The advisory
board may conduct random audits of CE reported to be completed by
respiratory care practitioners to determine compliance with this section.
The advisory board may require written verification of CE hours from
a respiratory care practitioner within 30 days of request. Failure
to provide such verification may result in disciplinary action by
the advisory board.
(d) Exemptions.
(1) A respiratory care practitioner may request in
writing an exemption from the CE requirement for the following reasons:
(A) documented catastrophic illness;
(B) military service of longer than one year's duration
outside the United States;
(C) residence of longer than one year's duration outside
the United States; or
(D) good cause shown on written application of the
respiratory care practitioner that gives satisfactory evidence to
the advisory board that he or she is unable to comply with the CE
requirement.
(2) Exemptions are subject to the approval of the Executive
Director of the Medical Board and must be requested in writing at
least 30 days prior to the expiration date of the certificate.
(3) An approved exemption may not exceed one renewal
period but may be requested biennially, subject to the approval of
the Executive Director of the Medical Board.
(e) CE hours that are obtained to comply with the CE
requirements for the preceding renewal period as a prerequisite for
obtaining the renewal of a certificate shall first be credited to
meet the CE requirements for the previous renewal period. Once the
previous renewal period's CE requirement is satisfied, any additional
hours obtained shall be credited to meet the CE requirements for the
current renewal period.
(f) A false report or statement to the advisory board
by a respiratory care practitioner regarding CE hours reportedly obtained
shall be a basis for disciplinary action by the board pursuant to §604.201
of the Act. A respiratory care practitioner who is disciplined by
the advisory board for such a violation may be subject to the full
range of actions authorized by the Act including suspension or revocation
of the practitioner's certificate.
(g) A respiratory care practitioner who is a military
service member may request an extension of time, not to exceed two
years, to complete any CE requirements. A request for such extension
is subject to the approval of the Executive Director of the Medical
Board.
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Source Note: The provisions of this §186.10 adopted to be effective April 3, 2017, 42 TexReg 1758; amended to be effective April 15, 2018, 43 TexReg 2147; amended to be effective March 31, 2019, 44 TexReg 1531; amended to be effective December 31, 2020, 45 TexReg 9524 |