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New Hampshire Board of Nursing: Licensing Renewal Requirements for NH

In the USA, nurses are considered a unique asset in terms of healthcare and need to have a registered license to work. There are slight differences in obtaining the license in different US states and renewing them.

At the same time, the overall knowledge and practice required to be serving as a nurse are more or less the same throughout the country. In New Hampshire, all nursing practices are regulated and taken care of by a board- The New Hampshire Board Of Nursing.

The New Hampshire Board of Nursing regulates the following types of nurses:

There are broadly three different categories of nurses that require a license in the USA; however, a person can obtain a temporary license as well. The three nursing categories are Registered Nurse (RN), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), and Advanced Practice Nurse (APN).

read more: Nurse Salary in New Hampshire

Process for acquiring a nursing license in New Hampshire

The process for acquiring a medical nursing license from the New Hampshire Board of Nursing has the following general requirements:

  1. One must complete their pre-license education hours or equivalent coursework so that the New Hampshire Board of Nursing can accept their application.
  2. The LPN candidates in New Hampshire are required to have a post-secondary education that leads to a degree in nursing from a foreign school.
  3. Applicants that don’t wish to get a bachelor’s degree but still wish to work as a nurse can apply directly from the New Hampshire Board of Nursing’s official website.

License Renewal Process at New Hampshire Board of Nursing

If a person is still working even after their nursing license has expired, it can lead to hefty fines or suspension from work even. Usually, a nurse is expected to renew their license as soon as the expiry date is near.

Nursing Licenses stay valid for up to two years in the US; the expiry date is usually a day before the nurses’ birthday. So is the case in other US states as well. There are a few requirements that the nurses need to meet before they apply for their license renewal.

After a person is sure they meet all the requirements needed for license renewal in New Hampshire, they can apply for the same. They will also need to pay a fixed amount as license renewal fees for the process.

The license renewal fees can be around $60, and there might also be additional charges along with it. The application can be made via the official website of the New Hampshire Board of Nursing.

License Renewal Requirements:

For a Registered Nurse (RN) license renewal, the nurse has to complete 30 contact hours at work as continuing education (CE) requirement. Likewise, for a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), the nurse has to complete at least 60 contact hours at work.

For an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) license renewal, the nurse must ensure they have had 60 hours of contact in their work. For a specialty certification, they have to make sure that they have 30 of the 60 required contact hours; and an additional 30 contact hours that includes 5 hours of pharmacology.

Also, in some cases, New Hampshire nurses have an active DEA for prescribing too, which means that they are licensed to prescribe drugs and medicines. In such cases, they must ensure that at least 3 of the 5 required pharmacology hours address pain management, substance abuse disorders, and opioid prescribing.

In order to prescribe controlled drugs, a person will need to have an active Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) license. This agency regulates both the prescribing and distribution of controlled substances- like sedatives and narcotics.

If it is a nurse’s first time renewing their New Hampshire nursing license, they need to also complete at least an hour focusing on educating themselves about HIV/AIDS.

read more: New Hampshire Board of Medicine: License Lookup and Renewal for NH

Transfer of Nursing License:

There are always nurses that need to move from one state to another or switch to a different state to pursue the same career. In such cases, it is possible to transfer a nursing license from one state to another.

The process is simple- one needs to have a valid and working medical nursing license from the state they were previously working in. Then, one needs an endorsement application to practice in New Hampshire. The requirements for a transfer of nursing license are:

  • Nurses need to show 400 hours of nursing work in the last four years and 30 continuing education (CE) contact hours in the last two years, or
  • Passing NCLEX scores in the last two years.

Apart from that, applicants need to pay $50 as fees for a mandatory criminal background check and an additional $120 as the application fees.

Verifying the nurses’ licensure and background checks ensure that they do not have any criminal background or bumpy records.

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