“Every nurse has to use CE Broker”

What nurses hear

"CE Broker is how nurses track and report CE, so I have to sign up and report all my hours through it."

The reality

Whether you must use CE Broker depends entirely on your licensing state. Based on board-sourced records, CE Broker is the required reporting system for RN renewal in only about five states, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, and West Virginia. Many other boards partner with CE Broker as an optional tracking tool (Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Wyoming among them), there you may use it if you like, but you're not required to; you self-attest at renewal and keep your certificates in case of an audit. In states with no CE Broker relationship, it plays no role at all. "Partners with CE Broker" is not the same as "requires CE Broker", and that distinction is easy to miss.

Why this one spreads

• CE Broker partners with many state boards, so its reach can look universal.
• Florida nurses, where it IS mandatory, are a large, vocal share of online nursing forums.
• "Official CE tracking system of the [State] Board" reads as "required" even when use is optional.

The nuance that survives

• The mandatory-state list can shift as boards add or drop contracts, verify against your own board before renewing.
• "Optional partner" states let you use CE Broker for tracking, but you can also just keep certificates and self-attest.
• Even where CE Broker is optional, an audit still requires you to produce certificates, keep them for your state's lookback period.

Sources

CE Broker, Boards & Regulating Entities (partner list)

Last verified: 2026-07-05

Florida BON, CE reported through CE Broker (mandate example)

Last verified: 2026-07-05

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my state requires CE Broker?

Check your board of nursing's renewal page. If it says CE is reported/verified through CE Broker (as Florida does), it's required; if it just "partners with" CE Broker, it's optional and you can self-attest.

If it's optional in my state, what do I do instead?

Complete your required CE, keep every certificate of completion, and attest to it at renewal. Produce the certificates only if your board audits you.

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