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This peer reviewed course is applicable for the following professions: Respiratory Care Practitioner, Respiratory Therapist (RT) This course will be updated or discontinued on or before Saturday, July 19, 2025
CEUFast, Inc. is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. ANCC Provider number #P0274.
≥92% of participants will practice within the perimeters of the Florida Laws and Rules governing the practice of respiratory care.
ObjectivesAfter completing this course, the learner will be able to:
CEUFast Inc. and the course planners for this educational activity do not have any relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
Last Updated: 3/14/2024
Laws and Rules: Florida Respiratory Care Board
Nursing Assistants from California, only. You must read the material on this page before you can take the test. The California Department of Public Health, Training Program Review Unit has determined that is the only way to prove that you actually spent the time to read the course.
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(NOTE: Some approval agencies and organizations require you to take a test and "No Test" is NOT an option.)
Author: Julia Tortorice (RN, MBA, MSN, NEA-BC, CPHQ)The Laws and Rules of Respiratory Practice are composed of (1) Statutes passed by the Florida State Legislature; and (2) Rules and Regulations passed by the Florida Board of Respiratory Care (BORC). Rules and Regulations clarify the statutes in the practice of respiratory care. Rules and regulations are administrative law.
The Laws and Rules grant the authority to regulate respiratory care applicants and licensure, provide broad statements of duties, and specify how board members are appointed. Your Respiratory Care practice is directly affected by your ability to make informed decisions within the parameters of laws and rules. You need to know how the rules apply to you and then apply them in your practice.
You can find the statutes plus Rules and Regulations by going to the Florida Board of Respiratory Care Renewal website here. Image 1 is the renewal page showing links to the Statutes plus Rules and Regulations.
Statutes, rules, and regulations have complex numbering systems. However, you do not need to know that numbering system because you can always look up the information by the section title.
Check the website regularly to keep up with any changes or additions that will affect your practice. Also, ensure your contact information is up-to-date; otherwise, the license renewal notice will go to the wrong place.
The BORC represents the people of Florida by ensuring that licensed respiratory therapists meet minimum standards of safe practice. Licensure is a requirement to protect the people of Florida and ensure safe respiratory care. You cannot call yourself a Respiratory Therapist nor practice in the state of Florida without a license.
The BORC DOES NOT:
The BORC can help you understand how to practice safely and within the rules and regulations set up in the state of Florida.
Professional respiratory care associations DO:
The Governor appoints the BORC members. Membership includes (FL Statute Ch 468, 2020) :
Each respiratory care professional on the Board must have been actively engaged in delivering respiratory care services in this state for at least four consecutive years before appointment. The Governor shall, insofar as possible, appoint persons from different geographical areas.
To be eligible for licensure by the Board, an applicant must be an active "certified respiratory therapist” or an active "registered respiratory therapist" as designated by the National Board for Respiratory Care. Licensure by endorsement is possible following specific requirements. There are additional requirements for reactivating a lapsed or retired license. Specific instructions and requirements for licensure are available here.
Request an official letter of verification from the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) (www.nbrc.org) is sent directly to the respiratory care board office.
Request license verification(s) from all states in which you have ever held a license, if applicable. The verification must be sent directly to our board office.
Complete your Florida application online here.
If applicants have any affirmative answers in the Criminal, Personal, or Disciplinary sections of the application, submission of the personal statement and supporting documentation can be emailed or faxed to our board office. Any affirmative answers on the initial application to the criminal, disciplinary or personal history sections will require a personal written statement and supporting documentation. This documentation is reviewed to determine if a personal appearance at a board meeting is required.
Respiratory care service includes (FL Statute Ch 468, 2020) :
Only licensed persons have the right to use the following title (FL Statute Ch 468, 2020) :
The Legislature and the Board have determined that competency in delivering respiratory care services is enhanced by continuous updating of knowledge and skills. (FL admin. code, 2020) Continuing education is required as a condition for the renewal of licensure of all respiratory care licensees. Each licensee must earn 24 hours of continuing education credit during each biennium, including those earned as provided in this rule. None of these hours can be obtained by taking Basic Life Support (BLS) training. No more than five (5) hours per biennium shall be awarded to complete courses focusing on risk management.
As of August 3, 2016, home study/online courses are no longer limited to 12 hours starting the 2017 renewal biennium. However, all courses, including home study/online courses, must be completed by an approved respiratory care provider. Live courses are still acceptable, available, and not limited, but are not mandatory to start in the 2017 renewal biennium.
Each licensee shall submit proof satisfactory to the Board of participation in appropriate continuing education using the electronic reporting system CE Broker. Education providers approved by the BORC are required to report contact hours to CE Broker. For example, CEUFast.com is a BORC provider and reports your contact hours automatically. The participant must enter continuing education contact hours by non-BORC providers into CE Broker at www.CEBroker.com.
To ensure you receive your renewal notification from the department, your current mailing address must be on file. Failure to renew an active or inactive license by the expiration date will result in the license being placed in delinquent status. Failure by a delinquent licensee to renew before the expiration of the current licensure cycle renders the license null and void without any further action by the Board or the department.
| REQUIRED SUBJECT AREA | REQUIRED NUMBER OF HOURS | IMPORTANT INFORMATION |
|---|---|---|
| General Hours | 20 | |
| Medical Error | 2 | Mandatory for all licensees: 2 hours in a board-approved continuing education course pursuant to Rule 64B32-6.006, FAC. |
| Laws and Rules | 2 | Mandatory for all licensees: 2 credit hours pursuant to subsection 64B32-6.001(5), FAC Licensees may earn up to 8 continuing education hours per biennium by attending meetings of the Board of Respiratory Care, but no more than 2 of those hours will be credited to satisfying the Florida laws and rules requirement. |
| 24 Total | ||
A 3-hour H.I.V./AIDs course is mandatory for the initial renewal of all licensees and optional for subsequent renewals: The course must be taken within the last five (5) years before either initial licensure or first renewal.
One contact hour equals 50 minutes of education, and 0.5 contact hours equals 25 minutes. A contact hour is not equivalent to a continuing education unit (CEU). A contact hour is the current term of measure for CNE. You might find the old term CEU used occasionally. One contact hour equals 0.1 CEU, and ten contact hours equals one CEU.
The respiratory therapist has a responsibility to report breaches in practice. The Department of Health investigates complaints and reports involving healthcare practitioners regulated by the department and enforces appropriate Florida Statutes (FL Healthcare Complaint Portal, 2020) . The action that may be taken against health care practitioners is administrative. That website is here.
The following acts constitute grounds for denial of a license or disciplinary action, as specified in s. 456.072 (2) (FL Statute Ch 468, 2020) :
The Board shall act per the following disciplinary guidelines and shall impose a penalty within the range corresponding to the severity and repetition of the violations as set forth below. The mitigating or aggravating circumstances used to justify any deviation from the specified guidelines must be enunciated in the final order. The verbal identification of offenses is descriptive only; the full language of each statutory provision cited must be consulted to determine the conduct included. For applicants, any offenses listed herein are sufficient for refusal to certify an application for licensure. In addition to the penalty imposed, according to Section 456.072(4), FS, the Board shall recover the investigation costs and prosecution of the case. Additionally, suppose the Board makes a finding of pecuniary benefit or self-gain related to the violation. In that case, the Board shall require a refund of fees billed and collected from the patient or a third party on behalf of the patient.
(a) Attempting to obtain a license by bribery, fraud or through an error of the Department or the Board.
(Sections 468.365(1)(a), 456.072(1)(h), F.S.)
*However, if the violation is not through an error but is for fraud or making a false or fraudulent representation, the fine is increased to $10,000 per count or offense.
b) Actions taken against license by another jurisdiction.
(Sections 468.365(1)(b), 456.072(l)(f), F.S.)
*However, if the offense is for fraud or for willfully making a false or fraudulent report, the fine is increased to $10,000 per count or offense.
*However, if the violation is for fraud or soliciting patients by making a false or fraudulent representation, the fine is increased to $10,000 per count or offense.
*However, if fraud is shown, the fine is increased to $10,000 fine per count.
*However, if the offense is for fraud, the fine is increased to $10,000 per count or offense.
Effective July 1, 2017, HB 1121 permits hospitals and physicians' offices to release patient records to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) for investigative purposes. In addition, DCF agents or representatives can now obtain records without written permission from the patient, but only when the information will be used to investigate cases of abuse, neglect, or exploitation that impact children or vulnerable adults (HB1121, 2021) .
A respiratory therapist is in a trusted position, but the respiratory therapist is also human. That is why the respiratory therapist must be able to self-disclose facts, circumstances, events, errors, and omissions when such disclosure could enhance the health status of patients or the public or could protect patients or the public promptly and fully from unnecessary risk of harm.
Respiratory therapists have a duty to the patient - that is the highest level of responsibility. Employers, other health care providers, and the respiratory therapist's interests do not outweigh this very important responsibility. Therefore, respiratory therapists must be aware of their actions and feelings within the therapeutic relationship, identify the invisible boundaries, and act in the patient's best interest.
A respiratory therapist is in a position of power. It is important to practice respiratory care in an autonomous role with patients, their families, significant others, and members of the public during difficult times in their lives. Respiratory therapists can take advantage of vulnerable people and must guard against any abuse of trust.
A respiratory therapist has an important role in maintaining professional boundaries and must know, recognize, and maintain the professional boundaries of the respiratory therapist-client relationship. Violating professional boundaries of the respiratory therapist-client relationship includes but is not limited to physical, sexual, emotional, or financial exploitation of the client or the client's significant other.
Morality is social conventions about right and wrong agreed upon amongst the population.
Values include your beliefs, likes, dislikes, and preferences. Things that determine personal values are educational background, life experience, cultural beliefs, family beliefs, and religious beliefs. Different people have different values. Different cultures have different values, and values are different even within cultures. Values change over time and in different situations.
Personal ethics and values differ from professional ethics and values. Your ethics and values affect your practice. Value and ethical conflict occur if you fail to recognize that values and beliefs are different for individuals of different cultures and within a culture.
Sources of professional values:
Sue works the evening shift in an intensive care unit. At 3:30, Sue receives a call from her child's care provider, and her child is sick. She asks the supervising respiratory therapists if she could check on her child. This decision is the conflict between Sue's value of her child's health and her professional, ethical responsibility of fidelity in doing one's duty. If the supervising respiratory therapist allows Sue to go home, this resolves her conflict. However, if the supervising respiratory therapist does not allow Sue to go home, the conflict remains unresolved.
Mr. X's physician has asked home health care to evaluate him. It is determined that Mr. X requires patient education and therapy related to managing his shortness of breath. Therefore, physical therapy is also order. Mr. X allows the physical therapist to come but refuses physical therapy. After Mr. X refuses to open the door for the physical therapist, the respiratory therapist and physical therapists arranged to come together. The respiratory therapist educates Mr. X on the benefit of physical therapy in increasing his exercise tolerance and decreasing his shortness of breath. However, Mr. X continues to refuse to participate in the physical therapy regimen. This refusal is an ethical conflict between fidelity and beneficence in doing one's duty to carry out a beneficial patient care order and the patient's autonomy in his right to choose.
