Nursing CE · Florida · for providers
Florida CE certificate requirements for Board approved providers
What a Florida Board of Nursing approved provider must give each nurse, what it must report to CE Broker within 30 days, and how long to keep records. Checked against Chapters 64B-5 and 64B9-5 of the Florida Administrative Code and Chapter 456 of the Florida Statutes. The same reporting rule covers every Florida Department of Health board.
Short answer · checked 30 October 2026
Florida’s Board of Nursing rule requires an “authenticated individual Certificate of Attendance” for every participant but does not list its contents. Build it from the data you must report to CE Broker within 30 days: your provider number, the course title and number, the nurse’s name and licence number, the completion date and the contact hours earned, signed by your provider. Keep offering records for 4 years.
- Required elements
- 9
- Report to CE Broker
- Within 30 days
- Keep offering records
- 4 years
- Central reporting system
- CE Broker
New to CE?
How continuing education works, in one line
New to CE?
How continuing education works, in one line
Accreditor
Sets the rules and approves providers.
Provideryou
Runs the course and issues the certificate.
Learner
Completes the course and keeps the certificate.
Board
Renews the licence and may audit the certificate.
- Board approved provider
- An organization a Florida board has approved to give CE. The Board of Nursing gives each one a number that starts with 50-. Only Board approved providers must report to CE Broker.
- CE Broker
- The electronic continuing education tracking system the Florida Department of Health uses. Providers report completions into it, and the Department checks it when a licence is renewed.
- Contact hour
- The unit of nursing CE in Florida. One contact hour is 60 minutes; a half contact hour is 30 minutes.
- Mandatory hours
- Hours in a subject the law or a board rule requires, for example 2 hours on prevention of medical errors. They must be reported as that subject, not hidden in a total.
- Program number
- The number CE Broker gives each course when you add it, which starts with 20-. Your report must carry it.
- Self-report
- When the nurse enters a course into CE Broker herself. Required for courses from national organizations, which are not Board approved providers.
Who this applies to
Providers under Florida boards / CE Broker, and the learners they serve
Providers
- Providers approved by the Florida Board of Nursing (provider numbers start with 50-)
- Providers approved by any other Florida Department of Health board, for example Medicine, Massage Therapy, Physical Therapy or Clinical Social Work; the 30-day CE Broker rule applies to all of them
- National providers (for example ANCC accredited providers) are not Board approved; their learners self-report, so this page is for them only as a guide
Learners
Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and advanced practice registered nurses who need contact hours to renew a Florida licence, and licensees of the other Florida Department of Health boards.
The 9 elements
What the certificate must show
Each number on the sample matches one element Florida boards / CE Broker requires. The list says where the rule is written and which Hyperstack field fills it.
- 1
Provider name and Florida provider number
Your organization’s name and the number the Board gave you, written in full (50-4821). The provider number is the first thing CE Broker asks for in a report.
Example: Gulfbreeze Nursing Institute · Provider No. 50-4821
In Hyperstack: set once in the templateRule 64B-5.002(2)(a), F.A.C.; Rule 64B14-5.004(3), F.A.C.
- 2
Learner name
The nurse who completed the course. The rule calls the certificate “individual”, so one certificate per person, never a group list.
Example: Maria J. Alvarez
In Hyperstack:
[recipient_name]Rule 64B9-5.003(8)(j), F.A.C. - 3
Florida licence number
Both the letters and the digits, for example RN 9472113. You cannot report to CE Broker without it, so collect it at registration and print it.
Example: RN 9472113
In Hyperstack:
[custom_license_number]Rule 64B-5.002(2)(a), F.A.C.; Rule 64B3-11.003(5), F.A.C. - 4
Course title
The program name exactly as you entered it in CE Broker.
Example: Sepsis Recognition in the First Hour
In Hyperstack:
[group_title]Rule 64B-5.002(1), (2)(a), F.A.C. - 5
CE Broker course number
The program number CE Broker assigned when you added the course (20-xxxxx), or your own course ID if you chose to use one.
Example: Course No. 20-118204
In Hyperstack:
[custom_course_number]Rule 64B-5.002(1), (2)(a), F.A.C. - 6
Completion date
The date the nurse completed the program. For a self-paced course, the day she passed the post-test. This date starts the 30-day reporting clock.
Example: 14 October 2026
In Hyperstack:
[issue_date]Rule 64B-5.002(2)(a), F.A.C. - 7
Contact hours earned, with mandatory subjects listed
The hours this nurse earned, in 60-minute contact hours, half hours allowed. If any of the hours meet a mandatory subject (medical errors, laws and rules, impairment, human trafficking, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS), name that subject and its hours on its own line.
Example: 2.5 contact hours · includes Prevention of Medical Errors: 2.0
In Hyperstack:
[custom_contact_hours]Rule 64B-5.002(2)(a), F.A.C.; Rule 64B9-5.001(4), F.A.C. - 8
Provider statement
Florida sets no wording. A short line that names your Board approval and says you will report the completion tells the nurse she does not have to self-report.
Example: Gulfbreeze Nursing Institute is a Florida Board of Nursing approved continuing education provider, No. 50-4821. This completion is reported to CE Broker within 30 days.
In Hyperstack: set once in the templateRule 64B-5.002(2)(a), F.A.C.; Florida Board of Nursing FAQ, “Does the CE provider report my completed units?”
- 9
Authentication (signature)
The rule says the certificate must be “authenticated”. A signature of the person responsible for your CE program is the usual way. The clinical laboratory board asks for the provider’s signature outright.
Example: Dana R. Whitfield, MSN, RN, Director of Continuing Education
In Hyperstack: set once in the templateRule 64B9-5.003(8)(c), (8)(j), F.A.C.; Rule 64B3-11.003(5), F.A.C.
Exact wording
The statements, word for word
Florida boards / CE Broker has 2 wordings. Use the one that fits your approval and your activity. Copy it, do not retype it.
Board of Nursing approved provider (no fixed wording)
[Provider name] is a Florida Board of Nursing approved continuing education provider, No. 50-[XXXX]. This completion is reported to CE Broker within 30 days of [completion date].
Florida has no required wording. The rule only requires an “authenticated individual Certificate of Attendance”. This line carries the two facts a nurse needs: your provider number and that you report for her. Do not write “accredited”; Florida boards approve providers, they do not accredit them.
Rule 64B9-5.003(8)(j), F.A.C.; Rule 64B-5.002(2)(a), F.A.C.Other Florida Department of Health boards
[Provider name] is a Florida Board of [Board name] approved continuing education provider, No. 50-[XXXX]. This completion is reported to CE Broker within 30 days of [completion date].
The 30-day CE Broker rule is a Department of Health rule and applies to every board. Some boards list certificate contents in their own rule; for example clinical laboratory personnel (Rule 64B3-11.003(5)) and orthotists and prosthetists (Rule 64B14-5.004(3)) both require the licence number, the hours and the provider number; the clinical laboratory rule also requires the provider’s signature. Check your board’s chapter in Division 64B.
Rule 64B-5.002(2)(a), F.A.C.; Rule 64B3-11.003(5), F.A.C.; Rule 64B14-5.004(3), F.A.C.How credit is counted
Minutes in, contact hours out
The unit
1 contact hour = 60 minutes
One contact hour equals sixty minutes. One half contact hour equals thirty minutes. Every offering must be at least 60 minutes long, and beyond the first hour credit is counted in 30-minute increments. Clinical and classroom education both earn contact hours.
Rule 64B9-5.001(4), F.A.C.; Rule 64B9-5.003(6), F.A.C.Rounding
Count whole half hours. 60 minutes is the minimum; after that, add 0.5 for each full 30 minutes. Round down, never up: a 100-minute class is 1.5 contact hours, not 1.7.
Worked example
150 minutes ÷ 60 = 2.5, a whole number of half hours
150 minutes → 2.5 contact hours
150 ÷ 60, rounded down to the nearest 0.5. Offerings under 60 minutes earn no contact hours. Credit is counted in 30-minute steps after the first hour.
Timeline
From the last slide to the audit file
Activity
Day 0
The nurse completes the program. For a self-paced course she must pass a post-test of at least 10 questions with 70% or more, graded by you.
Certificate
On completion
Give each participant an authenticated individual Certificate of Attendance. The Board of Nursing sets no day limit; the clinical laboratory board, for example, says within 30 days.
Report
Within 30 days
Submit the completion to CE Broker within 30 days of program completion: provider number, program name and number, completion date, licence numbers, hours, mandatory subjects.
Records
4 years
Keep the records of each offering for four years for inspection by the Board. Attendance records and certificates must be kept secure; the rule sets no term for them.
Reporting
Who reports what to CE Broker
System
CE Broker (Florida Department of Health CE tracking system)
- Who reports
- Every Florida Board approved provider reports each licensee’s completion. Nurses self-report only courses from national organizations.
- Deadline
- Within 30 days of program completion
A provider that is not currently offering courses must say so by updating its status in its CE Broker provider account. Licensees may not be charged a fee to self-report.
Rule 64B-5.002(1)–(3), F.A.C.; s. 456.025(7), F.S.; s. 456.0361, F.S.; CE Broker help, “Creating Excel Files (Full Course Credit)”Provider, before the course
Add the course in CE Broker with the provider name, program name, dates offered and the maximum allowable hours the board approved. CE Broker assigns a program number (20-xxxxx), or you may use your own course ID.
Provider, at registration
Collect each nurse’s Florida licence number with its letters, for example RN9999. CE Broker cannot post credit without it.
Provider, within 30 days of completion
Report the roster: by licence number one at a time, by Excel upload, or system-to-system. The Excel file has 8 columns: A provider number (digits only, no 50-), B course number (digits only, no 20-) or C your own course ID, D publishing number (optional), E licence number with letters (RN9999), F completion date in Excel date format, G “State=FL”, H “Profession=RN”.
Provider
Report total hours earned per licensee, but list separately any hours in a mandatory subject such as prevention of medical errors or Florida laws and rules.
Nurse
Sees the posting in her CE Broker account. At renewal the Department checks CE Broker, not the certificate; a licence is not renewed until the record is complete.
Right and wrong
The same certificate, two ways
The lines on the left are the mistakes auditors find most. The lines on the right are the fix.
Fails an audit
Gulfbreeze Nursing Institute
Maria J. Alvarez
- Gulfbreeze Nursing Institute
- License: 9472113
- Contact hours: 2 (100-minute class)
- Contact hours: 2.5
- Date: 1 September 2026 (course opened)
- Accredited by the Florida Board of Nursing
Passes an audit
Gulfbreeze Nursing Institute
Maria J. Alvarez
- Gulfbreeze Nursing Institute · Florida Board of Nursing Approved Provider No. 50-4821
- License: RN 9472113
- Contact hours: 1.5
- Contact hours: 2.5 · includes Prevention of Medical Errors: 2.0
- Completed: 14 October 2026
- Florida Board of Nursing approved provider No. 50-4821
- 1. Without the provider number a nurse cannot tell you are Board approved, and an auditor cannot match the certificate to the CE Broker report.
- 2. CE Broker asks for both the letters and the digits of every licence number on a roster (RN9999).
- 3. Credit is counted in 60-minute hours and 30-minute halves, rounded down. 100 minutes is one full hour plus one full half hour.
- 4. Hours in a mandatory subject must be listed as that subject when reported. If the certificate hides them in a total, the nurse cannot prove the mandatory course.
- 5. The report needs the date the program was completed, and the 30-day clock runs from that day.
- 6. Florida boards approve providers; they do not accredit them. The wrong word suggests a status you do not hold.
Digital
Electronic certificates and badges
Electronic certificates
The Florida rules say nothing about paper or electronic certificates. They require an authenticated individual Certificate of Attendance and that you keep attendance records and certificates secure. A digital certificate with a verification page meets “authenticated” well. Remember that the Department checks CE Broker at renewal, not the certificate; the Board of Nursing tells nurses not to send certificates to the Board.
Digital badges
The Florida rules say nothing about badges. A badge on its own is not a Certificate of Attendance; if you issue one, it must carry the same nine elements.
Rule 64B9-5.003(8)(j), (8)(k), F.A.C.; Florida Board of Nursing, Registered Nurse Renewal page
Records and other rules
What else Florida boards / CE Broker checks
Keep offering records for 4 years
Records of each offering must be kept for four years for inspection by the Board, and attendance records and certificates must be kept secure. Hyperstack keeps every issued certificate, its verification page and its audit log for the life of your account and after you cancel.
Rule 64B9-5.003(8)(h)–(k), F.A.C.The CE Broker record is the official record
At renewal the Department reads CE Broker, not the certificate. It may not renew a licence until the record shows the required hours. Report within 30 days so the nurse is not blocked at renewal.
s. 456.0361, F.S.; Rule 64B-5.002(2)(a), F.A.C.You need the licence number
The report must carry the licence numbers of the licensees who participated. Ask for it at registration, with the profession letters, and store it as a custom attribute so it prints on the certificate and fills the CE Broker roster.
Rule 64B-5.002(2)(a), F.A.C.Partial credit is your call, but say so first
The provider decides whether partial credit is appropriate for participants who do not finish the whole offering, and must set the criteria for “successful completion” and make them available before the offering. Print the hours actually earned.
Rule 64B9-5.005(5), F.A.C.Self-paced and home study need a graded test
A self-directed learning experience, including home study and internet courses, must evaluate learner knowledge at the end with at least 10 questions. The learner needs 70% to receive the contact hours, and you must grade it. The completion date is the day she passes.
Rule 64B9-5.003(5), F.A.C.Mandatory subjects are reported by name
Florida nurses need 2 hours on prevention of medical errors and 2 hours on Florida laws and rules each biennium, plus impairment, human trafficking, domestic violence and a one-time HIV/AIDS hour. When your course meets one of these, list that subject’s hours separately on the certificate and in the report.
Rule 64B9-5.002(2), F.A.C.; Rule 64B-5.002(2)(a), F.A.C.National providers do not report; the nurse does
A course approved by a state or national organization empowered to accredit nursing CE (for example an ANCC accredited provider) earns contact hours, but the nurse must self-report it to CE Broker before renewal. If you are only ANCC accredited and not Board approved, tell learners this on the certificate.
Rule 64B9-5.004(1)(b), F.A.C.; Rule 64B-5.002(3), F.A.C.Other DOH boards: same 30 days, their own certificate rules
Chapter 64B-5 applies to every Florida Department of Health board. Some boards also list certificate contents: clinical laboratory personnel require name, licence number, title, hours by specialty, dates, provider name and approval number and a signature within 30 days; orthotists and prosthetists require provider name and number, title and program number, instructor, date, contact hours, licensee name and licence number, issued only after completion. Read your board’s chapter.
Rule 64B3-11.003(5), F.A.C.; Rule 64B14-5.004(3), F.A.C.Before you send
The audit checklist, to tick or print
Florida boards / CE Broker certificate checklist0/11
How to do it in Hyperstack
Three steps to a compliant certificate
- 1
Open the Florida boards / CE Broker template
The template has a place for every element on this page. Add your logo and your 3 fixed elements once.
- Provider name and Florida provider number
- Provider statement
- Authentication (signature)
- 2
Map your columns
Upload a spreadsheet or connect your LMS. Each column fills one element for every learner.
- [recipient_name]
- [custom_license_number]
- [group_title]
- [custom_course_number]
- [issue_date]
- [custom_contact_hours]
- 3
Issue and keep the record
Every learner gets an email, a verification page and a QR code. The record stays for as long as the rules need it.
- Verification page
- QR code
- Audit log
- Kept 4 years and beyond
Free template
An Florida boards / CE Broker-ready certificate, with all 9 elements in place
Set your provider details once. Names, dates and contact hours fill in for every learner. Each certificate gets a verification page and QR code.
FAQ
Florida boards / CE Broker certificates, answered
For nursing, no. Rule 64B9-5.003(8)(j) requires an “authenticated individual Certificate of Attendance” and nothing more. The safe certificate carries everything you must report to CE Broker: provider number, course title and number, the nurse’s name and licence number, completion date and hours, with a signature. A few other boards do list contents in their own rule.
Within 30 days of program completion. Rule 64B-5.002(2)(a) sets the deadline for all Florida Board approved providers. Some older board web pages still say 90 days; the rule says 30.
Eight columns: your provider number without the 50- prefix, the course number without the 20- prefix (or your own course ID), an optional publishing number, the licence number with its letters (RN9999), the completion date in Excel date format, “State=FL” and “Profession=RN”. Use a new file each time and never repeat a licensee already reported.
No. The Department checks CE Broker when the nurse renews and will not renew until the record is complete. The certificate is the nurse’s proof if something goes wrong, and the Board of Nursing tells nurses not to send certificates to the Board.
Only Florida Board approved providers must report. A course from a national organization still earns contact hours, but the nurse must self-report it to CE Broker before renewal, at no charge. Many national providers report anyway as a service; if you do not, say so on the certificate.
One contact hour is 60 minutes and a half hour is 30 minutes. An offering must be at least 60 minutes, and after that credit goes up in 30-minute steps. A 100-minute class is 1.5 contact hours.
Four years for the records of each offering, for inspection by the Board. You must also keep attendance records and certificates secure. A certificate that can be verified online at any time covers both.
The law caps the application fee and the biennial renewal fee at $250 each; each board sets its own figure by rule. You apply through CE Broker, the Board reviews the application and at least three sample offerings, and approval can last up to 60 months.
Sources
Read from Florida Department of Health boards and the CE Broker tracking system documents on 30 October 2026. This page is a guide, not legal advice. Your accreditation manual and your licensing board have the final word. Something out of date? Tell us.
Changes to this page
- 2026-10-30Page written from Chapters 64B-5 and 64B9-5, F.A.C., Chapter 456, F.S., and the CE Broker provider help pages.
- 2026-10-30Fact check: the orthotists rule requires no signature; attendance records and certificates have no retention term, only offering records (4 years); CE Broker course search link updated.
- 1Rule 64B-5.002, F.A.C., Responsibility of the Continuing Education Provider and Licensee (eff. 2015)Subsection (1) program information; (2)(a) the 30-day report and its data; (2)(b) submission formats; (3) licensee self-reporting.
- 2Rule 64B-5.001, F.A.C., Definitions (2005)Approved provider, CE tracking system, program, maximum allowable, hours earned, mandatory hours.
- 3Rule 64B-5.003, F.A.C., Electronic Forms for the CE Tracking System (2008)Form DH-MQA-CEB-6, Upload Course Completion, and the other CE Broker forms.
- 4Chapter 64B-5, F.A.C., Continuing Education (Department of Health)Chapter index.
- 5Rule 64B9-5.003, F.A.C., Standards for Continuing Education (Board of Nursing, eff. 2012)Subsection (5) self-directed test; (6) contact hour criteria; (8)(i) four-year records; (8)(j) authenticated individual Certificate of Attendance; (8)(k) security of records and certificates.
- 6Rule 64B9-5.001, F.A.C., Definitions (Board of Nursing, eff. 2009)Subsection (4): one contact hour equals sixty minutes; one half contact hour equals thirty minutes.
- 7Rule 64B9-5.002, F.A.C., Continuing Education Requirement (Board of Nursing, eff. 2019)One contact hour per calendar month; the mandatory courses.
- 8Rule 64B9-5.004, F.A.C., Procedure for Approval of Attendance (Board of Nursing, eff. 2016)Subsection (1)(b): contact hours for offerings approved by state or national accrediting organizations.
- 9Rule 64B9-5.005, F.A.C., Procedure Relating to the Provider (Board of Nursing, eff. 2000)Subsection (5) partial credit and successful completion; (6) approval up to 60 months.
- 10Chapter 64B9-5, F.A.C., Continuing Education Requirements (Board of Nursing)Chapter index.
- 11Rule 64B3-11.003, F.A.C., Board of Clinical Laboratory Personnel (eff. 2016)Subsection (5): certificate contents and the 30-day issue limit for that board.
- 12Rule 64B14-5.004, F.A.C., Board of Orthotists and Prosthetists (eff. 2014)Subsection (3): certificate contents for that board.
- 13Section 456.025(7), Florida StatutesProvider fees capped at $250; the electronic tracking system; providers must give course attendance information.
- 14Section 456.0361, Florida StatutesThe tracking system is integrated into renewal; no renewal until CE is complete.
- 15Section 456.013(9), Florida StatutesBoards adopt rules for CE course criteria.
- 16Florida Board of Nursing, Frequently Asked Questions (continuing education)“Does the CE provider report my completed units?” and when to self-report.
- 17Florida Board of Nursing, Registered Nurse RenewalRequired hours by subject; “Do not submit certificates of completion … to the Florida Board of Nursing.”
- 18Florida Department of Health, MQA Continuing EducationThe tracking system is powered by CE Broker; the Department reviews records at renewal.
- 19Florida Department of Health, Click Point Report quick guide (Board of Osteopathic Medicine)“Only Florida-approved providers are required by law to report your hours.” DOH CE reporting contact: [email protected].
- 20CE Broker help: Creating Excel Files (Full Course Credit)The eight roster columns and their formats.
- 21CE Broker help: Technical Details for ReportingReporting methods; “30 days in Florida”.
- 22CE Broker help: Boards and Regulating Entities Working with CE BrokerThe list of Florida boards on CE Broker.
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