If you obtained your occupational therapy license in North Carolina, you will need to earn continuing education points at required intervals in order to maintain your license. To help, I’m going to walk you through the steps I take to maintain my own occupational therapy license (and easily earn CEUs).
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Step 1: Look up your OT/OTA license.
To begin the process, I always double-check that my license is displaying correctly. You can look up your North Carolina occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant license here.
Step 2: Confirm the North Carolina OT continuing education requirements.
It’s always good to double check for any updates to your 2025 licensing cycle. (One year, I completed ALL of my state of Nebraska requirements only to find out that they were waived due to COVID. 😭)
But, to get you going here is the information I found, with links to where I found it.
Here are the basic OT/OTA CEU requirements in North Carolina:
Due annually. Online renewals open April 1 and end June 30th.
How many hours are required?
- OTs/OTAs need 15 points every year
1 point = 1 contact hour for most activities.
Requirements:
- Education topics should relate to your occupational therapy practice
- 1 points must be related to ethics
- Hold on to your CEU documentation for at least two years after the cycle you earned them in
No continuing competency points are due in your first renewal cycle!
There are limits on the number of points you can earn for certain activities, such as publishing, presenting, or completing academic coursework. There is no limit on points earned completing AOTA approved web-based courses (such as OT Potential courses)!
Verify here: North Carolina Board of Occupational Therapy
Discounts
Get a 15% discount on OT Potential by using the promo code: NorthCarolina
(We’ll also give 15% of that sale to the North Carolina OT Association.)
Here are the specific occupational therapy continuing education requirements for coursework in North Carolina:
These were copied from the Rules of the North Carolina Board.
SECTION .0800 – CONTINUING COMPETENCE ACTIVITY
.0802 CONTINUING COMPETENCE REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSURE
(a) Licensed occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants applying for license renewal shall document having earned a minimum of 15 points for approved continuing competence activities between July 1 of the preceding year and June 30 of the current year.
Documentation of each continuing competence activity shall comply with Rule .0805 of this
Chapter.
(b) For each renewal period, the licensee shall document completion of at least one contact hour of a qualified activity for maintaining continuing competence related to ethics in the practice of occupational therapy that shall be included in the total points for the year. Continuing competence activities in ethics shall be related to developing the licensee’s ability to reflect on, determine, and act on the moral aspects of practice as required by Rule .0308 of this Chapter.
(c) Continuing competence contact hours exceeding the total needed for renewal shall not be carried forward to the next renewal period.
(d) Continuing competence activities shall not include new employee orientation or annual training required by the employer.
(e) Licensees shall not receive credit for completing the same continuing competence activity more than once during a renewal period.
.0803 APPROVAL OF ACTIVITIES FOR MAINTAINING CONTINUING COMPETENCE
(a) Provided the activities meet the requirements of Rule .0804, the Board shall approve:
(1) Continuing competence activities sponsored or approved by the NCOTA;
(2) Continuing competence activities sponsored or approved by the AOTA; and
(3) Continuing competence activities sponsored by AOTA approved providers.
(b) A provider of a continuing competence activity shall furnish documentation for demonstrating completion to all participants, specifying the following information:
(1) name of the participant;
(2) name of the provider;
(3) dates of the activity and completion;
(4) title and location of the activity;
(5) number of contact hours; and
(6) signature of the provider or representative.
Read the full chapter here
Activities that qualify for continuing competence
Step 3: Earn your CEU hours (discounts below)!
Ok, now that you know your requirements, it is time to start earning those CEUs! There are of course a lot of options out there, but we hope you consider checking out the courses offered by OT Potential.
Do OT Potential courses count toward the continuing education required to renew my license?
Yes! You can easily earn all 15 of your North Carolina OT continuing education points through OT Potential, as long as you meet the requirements outlined above.
Our CEU courses and monthly live webinars are AOTA approved, and you’ll earn a certificate of completion after you pass a short assessment!
You can also meet your requirement for 1 point of ethics education through our CEU courses focused on ethics.
Where can North Carolina OT professionals get the best deals on CEUs?
At OT Potential, our courses are all built around helping you get new evidence into practice.
But, what good is evidence-based practice, if you are not reimbursed appropriately for it? Our local associations do SUCH important advocacy work, when it comes to reimbursement and scope of practice. That’s why we’ve made it part of our mission to support these associations.
So, we have this win-win proposition for you. Join OT Potential using the promo code “NorthCarolina” to receive a 15% discount—and we’ll donate 15% of your order to NCOTA.
👍 Price of OT Potential with your North Carolina discount = $84.15 (Reg $99)
🎉 Donation amount to NCOTA = $12.62
And, the best part is if you decide to renew, it will be at your discounted price. AND, we’ll make another donation to NCOTA.
This is one of the cheapest ways to earn your required North Carolina OT continuing competency points, and you can feel good doing it because you are giving back to your state association ❤️.
(If OT Potential is not right for you, I am also a long-time fan of MedBridge, and through OT Potential, you can snag a MedBridge Promo Code for 40% off.)
Step 4: Renew your license. 🎉
Ok, now it’s time for the big moment.
You can renew your license online.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you found this post helpful!
As you can tell, I am a continuing education nerd 🤓, so if you have any other questions about continuing education and your North Carolina OT license renewal, just ask me the comments!
Ok! Ready to try OT Potential?
Get 15% off + 15% goes to support NCOTA.
Learn more, then use promo code: NorthCarolina
Or try 2 free OT CEUs!