The Board of Nursing continuing nursing education IV Therapy Committee discussed proposed revisions to continuing education regulations on March 25, focusing on whether to add the American Red Cross as an acceptable provider for advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) training and whether to replace long lists of named organizations with a generic “board‑approved curriculum” reference.

Committee members said the change would reduce the need to update regulations whenever another organization begins offering ACLS. Carol (Board of Nursing staff) described the draft language and introduced the proposal: “I was trying on page 21 to get rid of having to list every all these organizations every time that we talked about it,” and said she could return with a revised draft. Andrea Watson and other members expressed support for keeping the rule more generic so future new providers need not trigger a regulatory rewrite.

The committee discussed whether basic life support (BLS) and CPR should be explicitly excluded from continuing nursing education credit. Several members emphasized that ACLS and PALS are accepted for CNE credit but BLS/CPR are not, and asked that the draft clearly exclude BLS/CPR so providers and nurses would not assume those shorter re‑certification classes meet CNE criteria.

Committee members also reviewed which external approvals the board already accepts. Carol said the board accepts courses approved by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and by other state boards of nursing, noting some confusion among providers about when an IOA (individual offering approval) is required. The group asked staff to make the acceptance criteria clearer on the board’s website and in the proposed regulatory language.

A lengthy discussion followed about standalone IV therapy programs and how regulatory language has affected teaching and testing. Summer, a committee member and instructor, told the group the practical impact: the committee’s “checkoff sheets... haven't been updated since 02/2003,” and that the aged checklist and test items are creating burdens and, in some cases, teaching outdated content. Several members urged a process to update materials and to clarify whether programs may modify course materials before submitting them for board approval.

Staff direction and next steps: Carol offered to convene standalone IV therapy providers and to work with Andy Martin (public information officer) to draft more generic regulation language that lists examples rather than exhaustive organization names. The committee agreed that staff should begin outreach to standalone providers, gather specific problems (checklist, exam, bibliography expectations) and return with a proposed plan at the committee’s June meeting. Carol told members the changes would be drafted and brought back for committee review; she cautioned that regulatory change is a multistep process and that some items (exam/checklist revision) will take more time than a single meeting cycle.

Why it matters: Committee members said clearer, more flexible language would reduce administrative burden, let instructors update teaching materials more rapidly, and reduce confusion among nurses and employers about what counts as continuing nursing education.

The committee scheduled the regulatory draft and a plan for a subcommittee to appear on the June agenda.