What Qualifies for Continuing Education (CE)

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This page explains what qualifies for continuing education (CE) for Respiratory Care Practitioners (RCPs), including required categories, live CE, certifications and credentialing, college coursework, preceptorship, and what does not count.

Clinical Practice CE

Clinical practice CE includes education directly related to respiratory care practice and patient care. Examples include:

Patient assessment, monitoring, and clinical decision-making
Respiratory treatments and therapies
Ventilation and oxygen therapy
Disease management and evidence-based practice
Respiratory equipment, devices, and technology
Successful completion of approved credentialing examinations
Successful completion of approved certification examinations

Leadership CE

Leadership CE supports your professional responsibilities and role within health care teams. Examples include:

Effective communication in health care
Education and training for those who teach or support clinical instruction
Case management
Health care management, reimbursement, and cost containment
Qualified preceptorship activities (see below)
Law and Professional Ethics course (required every other renewal cycle)

Law and Professional Ethics Course

As part of required CE, licensees must successfully complete a Law and Professional Ethics course during every other renewal cycle. This course counts toward the RCP Leadership requirement.

How to tell if the ethics course is due:

Check your license details using the License Search system. Under your license information, look for the Secondary Status field:
- “Ethics Course Required” – the Law and Professional Ethics course must be completed prior to your next license renewal.
- “Ethics Course Not Required” – the Law and Professional Ethics course is not required to be completed prior to your next license renewal.
Review your renewal notice sent by mail, which will indicate whether the ethics course is required for your renewal cycle.

Indirectly Related CE

Up to 5 CE hours total may be indirectly related to the clinical practice of respiratory care. These courses support safe, compliant practice and the broader role of a health care practitioner.

Indirectly related CE may include the following:

Attendance at open sessions of Respiratory Care Board meetings
Attendance at meetings provided by the California Society for Respiratory Care (CSRC) or the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC), when CE credit is designated by the provider.
Courses related to the role of a health care practitioner or otherwise indirectly related to respiratory care, such as preventive health services and health promotion (including tobacco and smoking cessation counseling), required abuse reporting, legislatively mandated CE topics for licensed healing arts practitioners, courses on the assessment and treatment of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), or courses on electronic systems used for medical billing or the treatment of respiratory care patients.

CE credit for Board meeting attendance:

CE credit is calculated on an hour-for-hour basis for time spent attending open sessions of a Board meeting. To receive CE credit, licensees must sign in and out of the meeting and indicate that they are requesting CE credit. For virtual meetings, licensees must participate using the Board’s online meeting platform and provide the required information as instructed during the meeting.

Live CE

Live CE must include interaction between the licensee and instructor in real time. The instructor and licensee do not need to be in the same place, but they must be able to communicate verbally or in writing while the learning activity is occurring.

Examples of live CE:

In-person lecture sessions (conventions, courses, seminars, workshops, lecture series)
Live online meetings (webcasts, video conferences, audio conferences) where you can directly interact with the instructor in real time

“Scheduled viewing” of a previously recorded lecture is only considered live when you can interact with the instructor in real time.

Approved Providers

To count for CE, a course must be provided by (or approved by) an approved provider. Approved providers include certain accredited schools, licensed health care facilities, professional associations, and other listed entities.

For the full list of approved providers and what providers should include on CE certificates, see Information for CE Providers.

Credentialing Exams and Certifications

Some credentialing and certification examinations qualify for CE credit. The number of CE hours that may be applied is set by regulation and may differ from the number of contact hours listed on a course or certificate.

Credentialing Exams

The Board approves CE credit for the initial award only of certain credentialing examinations administered by the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC). CE credit is not granted for renewal, recertification, or exam preparation courses.

Adult Critical Care Specialist (ACCS)
Certified Pulmonary Function Technologist (CPFT)
Registered Pulmonary Function Technologist (RPFT)
Neonatal/Pediatric Specialist (NPS)
Sleep Disorders Specialist (SDS)
Asthma Educator Specialist (AE-C)
Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT), if not required at the time of initial licensure

Each initial NBRC credential listed above may be applied as 15 hours of CE toward the Clinical Practice requirement. These credentials may only be claimed once.

Certifications (ACLS, NRP, PALS, ATLS)

The Board also approves CE credit for certain certifications. CE credit amounts are established by regulation, even if a provider or certificate lists a different number of hours.

Initial certification: 15 hours of CE
Renewal or recertification: 5 hours of CE

These CE hours apply toward the Clinical Practice CE requirement.

Certification courses may also count toward the live CE requirement only if the course includes real-time interaction with an instructor. In-person courses and live online courses qualify. Self-paced or on-demand courses do not count as live CE. The course completion certificate should indicate that the course was live or included real-time interaction.

Basic Life Support (BLS) certification does not qualify for CE credit.

In addition, review or preparation courses for credentialing or certification examinations, renewal or recertification of certifications not expressly identified for CE credit, and employment-related training that does not meet CE requirements does not qualify for CE credit.

Qualified Preceptorship

Some licensees may qualify to earn CE credit by serving as a preceptor and providing direct supervision and clinical instruction to students enrolled in an approved respiratory care education program at a licensed facility.

When eligibility requirements are met, preceptorship may count toward RCP Leadership CE and, in some cases, toward the live CE requirement. Preceptorship CE credit does not apply to orientation, training, or supervision of new employees.

For eligibility requirements, allowable CE credit amounts, examples, and documentation guidance, see the Qualified Preceptorship page.

College Coursework

College courses may count toward CE if they meet CE requirements and are completed at an accredited post-secondary institution. Documentation is typically an official transcript and course description.

Unit conversion:

One (1) academic semester unit equals 15 CE hours.
One (1) academic quarter unit equals 10 CE hours.

Recordkeeping and Reporting

You must report compliance with CE requirements when you renew. Keep CE supporting documentation (such as certificates of completion and transcripts) for 4 years.

If you are selected for a CE audit, you will be asked to submit documentation. See CE Audits and Compliance for what to expect and what to submit.

Use of the CE Tracking Form is optional and intended for personal recordkeeping. If you are selected for a CE audit, you will be required to submit this completed form and documentation demonstrating compliance with CE requirements.

CE Tracking Form (PDF)