Is Mandatory Continuing Education A Good Thing?
Q: I am a nursing student doing research on the pros/cons of mandatory
continuing education for relicensure. Does anyone know where I can get info on
this?
A:I offer contradictory views from the States of California and Colorado.
California continues to mandate specific state-sanctioned educational programs,
for which providing individuals, organizations and hospitals pay a governing
board a fee to review and approve their offerings.
Colorado, on the other hand, has undertaken actuarial and statistical studies
that do not validate the theory that mandatory continuing education doesn't pan
out in decreasing the incidence of malpractice in nursing. Colorado no longer
has a mandatory educational requirement in order to relicense in that State.
However, if an educational provider still wants State approval for an offering,
the fee, usually $300/yr for individual and $500/yr per institution, is still
required.