LPNs who are renewing their nursing licenses in Ohio this year are required by the Ohio Board of Nursing to renew online. The Ohio Board of Nursing will no longer accept paper renewal or initial licensure applications. All applications must be submitted online.

However, as WSYX Channel 6 Investigative Reporter Brooks Jarosz discovered, the new online application process has not been without problems. See Jarosz’s report: http://abc6onyourside.com/investigators/technical-problems-persist-for-nurses-license-renewal

In order to start the renewal process, each nurse should have received a letter from the Nursing Board with their Log In ID. If a nurse moved since their last renewal and has not updated their address with the Nursing Board, the nurse may not have received their Log In ID. In Ohio, nurses are required to maintain a current address with the Nursing Board. Nurses can update their address at the Nursing Board’s website. The Nursing Board will not accept emails or a letter advising of a new address.

There are 58,000 licensed LPNs in Ohio. Ohio LPN licenses which have not been renewed timely lapse on November 1, 2016. If you have not timely renewed your Ohio LPN license, you MAY NOT WORK ON AN EXPIRED OR LAPSED LICENSE.

Do not wait until the last minute to attempt to renew your license. After September 15, you will be charged a late fee in connection with your renewal application.

To check on the status of your license, visit the Nursing Board’s online license verification page at: https://elicense.ohio.gov/oh_verifylicense

As always, if you have any questions about this post or the Ohio Board of Nursing, contact one of the attorneys at the Collis Law Group LLC at 614-486-3909 or email me at beth@collislaw.com.