Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(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.
