Elimination of Wallet Cards by the Ohio Board of Nursing

OBN E*News 01/29/2009 Board of Nursing Announcements 

ELIMINATION OF WALLET CARDS AND LICENSE/CERTIFICATION VERIFICATION

On November 19, 2008, the Ohio Board of Nursing (Board) held a public hearing regarding a proposal to revise Rule 4723-7-07, Ohio Administrative Code, to eliminate mandatory wallet cards.  This proposal was the culmination of a year's research and period for public feedback.  This Rule change will be effective February 1, 2009. 

 The rationale for the Rule change includes the following considerations:

 - Mitigation of identity theft, fraud and imposterism;

 - Employer ability to rely upon online licensure as Primary Source verification;

 - Reduction of costs and errors associated with state printing.

Verification of a license or certificate is available through the Board website.  The name, license or certification number and expiration date is public information and may be viewed by anyone.  Please note that when calling the Board office with questions about your license or certificate that Board staff generally will not use social security numbers as primary means to verify licensure or certificate information.  You should have your license or certificate number readily available.

"CATEGORY A" (Law and Rules) ONE HOUR CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENT

On November 19, 2008, the Ohio Board of Nursing (OBN) held a public hearing regarding a revision of Rule 4723-14-01, Ohio Administrative Code (OAC), related to providers of “Category A” continuing education. “Category A” means the portion of continuing education that meets the one-hour requirement directly related to Chapter 4723. of the Revised Code and the rules of the Ohio Board of Nursing (OBN) as set forth in Rule 4723-14-03, OAC. Any Category A obtained on or after February 1, 2009 must be approved by an OBN approver, or offered by an OBN approved provider unit that is headquartered in the state of Ohio. An OBN approver is an approver of continuing education. A list of OBN approvers is located on the Board’s website at www.nursing.ohio.gov. Click on the “Education” link on the homepage and the list of OBN approvers is located under "Continuing Education". If you have questions about continuing education, please contact the Continuing Education Desk at (614) 466-1949 or by e-mail at [email protected].

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So what do you think? Is this a good idea or a bad idea?

Someone stole my purse last year (I cried for two days and two nights) and my nursing license card along with my law license cards were included in my wallet. So I like the idea of web-based licensure verification.