Brochures describing the program and listing the content of each module (chapter) in the texts are posted on this website.
Email the Program Coordinator at nurserefresher@nurseleaders.org if you have questions.
If the Program Coordinator cannot answer your question, it will be referred to our Clinical Coordinator for a response.
Yes, both the RN and LPN programs are regularly revised based on current standards and scopes of practice. The NRP has an experience nursing educator contracted to manage the updates and the Education Committee of the nursing association has oversight of the process. The programs currently meet continuing education standards and are approved by the Arizona Nurses Association, an approved approver of ANCC.
The most recent edition of the Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice is recommended to complete the Nurse Refresher Program. This text is available at bookstores and online.
Click here to purchase the Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice through Amazon.
In order to participate in the NRP, a former nurse (no current license) must be approved by the Board of Nursing in their state of residence, and the Board of Nursing must send an authorization to the NRP administrators. The NRP will not admit a participant who may not be eligible for license reactivation until there is BON approval. Sometimes nurses have lost their license through a disciplinary process or they may not be eligible for a license because of judicial action. It is important to contact your State Board of Nursing to confirm eligibility for the NRP before purchasing the program.
Nurses who are currently licensed and who want to participate in the program to re-establish clinical skills or who want to achieve the 25 hours of continuing education are eligible to participate without a board of nursing approval.
There are several types of participants. RNs or LPNs who were once licensed but now have inactive or expired licenses and who wish to update their skills and apply to reinstate their licenses are the most common participants. Others are nurses who have an active license, but who have not worked in a number of years, or who have not worked in a clinical setting and they wish to update their skills. These nurses can claim continuing education credit for completing the program. A third group are participants who were students in an RN program and dropped out, but who now want to become licensed as LPNs by exception. This is an exception license because they did not graduate from an LPN program, but the core clinical content was basically covered in their RN program. However, the components that are specific to the LPN scope of practice and regulation are not covered in an RN program and those are Module One of the LPN program.
You have one year from the date the material is sent to you to complete the theory, final test, and clinical preceptorship. The average time for students to complete the program is approximately 8 months. The clinical portion should be completed within 8 weeks of clinical start date.
Nurse Refresher Program (NRP) recognizes that career aspirations or other life circumstances can change and may occasionally warrant a refund. All refunds must follow the procedures outlined in this policy.
To qualify for a 100% refund, NRP participants must request a refund within 30 days of original purchase date. No refunds will be considered after 30 days of original purchase date. NRP participants must also initiate the refund before submitting their pre-clinical post-test. No refunds will be considered after submitting the pre-clinical post-test, even if it is within 30 days of the original purchase date.
To request a refund, email nurserefresher@nurseleaders.org. All refunds will be applied back to the original payment method.
The clinical preceptorship is usually completed at a facility that provides general medical/surgical care. A list of the skills to be covered in the clinical experience is posted on this website. A packet of information is sent to each student at the time they take the final test. This packet provides helpful information necessary to schedule your clinical experience, along with all the forms that must be completed throughout the preceptorship. Students who are residents of Southwest Idaho may purchase Clinical Placement services for an additional fee. When this service is purchased, our Clinical Coordinator sets up the preceptorship for you. Clinical placement is not a guaranteed service. Pay your fee only when it is certain you have been placed at a clinical site.
The Nurse Refresher Program (NRP) was created in 1983 when the Idaho Board of Nursing’s Executive Director, Phyllis Sheridan, MSN, RN, felt that nurses who has expired licenses needed a way to return to practice without having to complete an entire nursing program again. She contracted with nurse educators from Idaho nursing programs to develop a curriculum that could be taught as a continuing education program. The program was originally jointly administered by the Area Health Education Consortium (AHEC) and the Idaho Board of Nursing (IBN) and housed at the Boise Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC). It was subsequently administered by the Idaho Commission on Nursing and Nursing Education (ICNNE) with classes based at Idaho State University-Boise and Eastern Idaho Technical College (EITC) in Idaho Falls. When ICNNE merged with the Idaho Organization of Nurse Executives (IONE) in 2003 and formed the Idaho Alliance of Leaders in Nursing (IALN), the program also merged. After 10 years with IALN, the program management moved to the Nurse Leaders of Idaho (NLI) because that organization provided the greatest number of participants and the membership, who were nurse administrators in hospitals, could facilitate clinical experience placements. The Education Committee of NLI provides guidance and direction to the NRP.