(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.     
     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