Frequently Asked Questions

Nurses have the option of filing a “Petition for Declaratory Statement”.
In many instances nursing duties and responsibilities are not specifically addressed in the Florida Nurse Practice Act (Chapter 464, FS), or the Rules of the Florida Board of Nursing (Title 64B9, Florida Administrative Codes)

Declaratory statements are an agency’s opinion as to the applicability of a statutory provision, or of any rule or order of the agency, as it applies to the petitioner’s particular set of circumstances (s. 120.565, F.S.). This page is a listing of declaratory statements.

Requests to file a “Petition for Declaratory Statement” can be located by selecting the link below:

http://www.floridahealth.gov/licensing-and-regulation/public-records/declaratory/index.html

Hours earned after the completion of a Basic Life Support (BLS) course or an Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) recertification course can’t be applied towards the 24 hour continuing education requirement for purposes of licensure renewal.

The Florida Board of Nursing adopted the position of the ANCC, effective as of June 1, 2011.

The following courses ceased to offer continuing education renewal credit as of June 1, 2011:

• CPR/AED certification and re-certification courses, Basic Life Support (BLS) certification and re-certification courses, Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) re-certification courses
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) re-certification courses, and Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) re-certification courses

Continuing education renewal credit will still be permitted for the following:

• Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification courses, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certification courses, and Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) certification courses

The ANCC disseminated the rationale in August 2009:

• BLS is no longer an augment to the nurse’s basic knowledge. Therefore it doesn’t meet the definition of continuing nursing education. Universities now require the student to be certified in BLS before ever entering the academic program. BLS is not an augmentation of knowledge; it is a basic preparation for training.

The advanced life support activities meet the definition of CNE because they are not included in the nurse’s basic training and therefore augment that training.

You will need access to a desktop or laptop computer with a compatible web browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome) installed, your social security number and date of birth.

If you are applying for a license and have not created an account, please follow these steps:

1. Visit https://mqa-vo.doh.state.fl.us/datamart/voservicesportal, click on ‘Create New Applicant Account. Once on the registration screen, follow the prompts for new user registration using a valid, active email address.
2. Check your email to locate your new account user ID and temporary password. Using your temporary password and user ID provided via email, log into your account. (Note: You will be prompted to create a new password for your account. Enter the temporary password in the “Old/Temporary Password” field.)
3. Once logged in, you will be prompted to add any existing health care licenses or previously submitted applications to your account. Follow the prompts to add your license or application using your social security number, date of birth, and mailing address zip code. If you do not have a current license or pending application, or your license is null and void, select “No” to proceed with applying for a license.

If you are already licensed please follow these steps:

1. Go to flhealthsource.gov and click the ”Account Login” button.
2. Enter your Personal Identifying Information (PII), then click the Login button.
3. Confirm or update your MQA Services Account email address, then click the “Continue” button.
4. You are now in the Dashboard. During renewals, a “Renew My License” option will populate no later than 90 days prior to your license expiration date. (Note: If you do not see the “Renew My License” option, please check back at a later time.)

*** If the “PII Failed” screen displays, click the ”Other Login Option” button and enter your existing User ID and password to access your account.***

*Note: MQA Online Services is not fully compatible with all mobile devices or Apple Safari at this time.

This commonly occurs when a user has already created an account. Please use the Forgot User ID link on the MQA Online Service log-in page. If you cannot remember your password, you can select the Reset Password button to have a new password emailed to you.

In order to have multistate privileges in the compact, log into your MQA account and select “Multi-State Registered Nurse Application” from the drop-down menu under “Manage My License”. The application requires a $100.00 fee and updated Livescan results to be submitted no more than 90 days prior to submission of the application. Please allow up to 30 days for processing once a complete application is submitted.

A nurse who is certified by a health care specialty program accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies or the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification is exempt from continuing education requirements. This must be reported to the Department’s tracking system powered by CE Broker.

Please note: The CE exemption based on certification does not apply to the 3 hour Safely Prescribing Controlled Substances course requirement nor the 2 hour Human Trafficking course requirement.

Check your email account’s junk mail folder. If the temporary password email is not in your junk mail folder, make sure you entered your valid email address correctly. If your email was entered correctly, please wait at least one hour to receive the email (NOTE: Some email systems take longer to receive emails than others. Even though we send the email immediately, it make take some time for you to receive it.)

Accounts are locked after 5 failed login attempts. You must close your browser and wait one hour before attempting to login again.

Each time you login to your MQA Online Services account, you will be prompted to verify your account email address.  This address is used to send application summaries and payment receipts along with account information such as lost passwords.  In addition, you can update your email address by selecting the Update Account link within the MQA Online Services Portal. If you do not remember your password, please contact the MQA Call Center at (850) 488-0595 for assistance in changing your email address.

Your email address is initially used to create your user account. We ask for your email address a second time when you renew as part of your renewal application’s contact information; however, providing your email address on an application is optional.

The email address provided at the time of registration is private and will not be provided to the public. If you provide an email address within an application’s contact information (i.e. when renewing), the address will be saved in our licensing database and becomes public information.

The $5 unlicensed activity fee is required by Section 456.065, Florida Statutes, and is used by the Department of Health to fund efforts to combat unlicensed activity. All licensees pay a $5 unlicensed activity fee as part of their initial license fee and license renewal fees.