If you obtained your occupational therapy license in the state of Tennessee, you will need to earn continuing education units 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 Tennessee occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant license here.
Step 2: Confirm the Tennessee 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 Tennessee:
Due every 2 years at the time of license renewal.
The 24-month renewal cycle is based on the month of your birthday, beginning on the first day of your birth month and continuing to the last day of the month preceding your birth month.
How many hours are required?
- OTs and OTAs need 24 credits
Required topics:
- 12 credits directly related to the delivery of occupational therapy services
- 1 hour of education on the AOTA Code of Ethics or other OT ethics related topic
- 1 hour of education related to the Tennessee Occupational and Physical Therapy Practice Act
- OTs need 2 hours of suicide prevention training every 4 years (2 renewal cycles)
A Note on Interactive Courses:
Tennessee does not require live/interactive courses per se, but they do limit they number of “independent study” credits you can obtain. (And, you need to take two hours of courses to count for 1 credit, whereas in live-interactive courses 1 hour – 1 credit.) Learn about OT Potential’s live interactive webinars here.
Verify here: Tennessee Board of OT FAQ
Discounts
Get a 15% discount on OT Potential by using the promo code: Tennessee
(We’ll also give 15% of that sale to the Tennessee OT Association.)
Here are the specific occupational therapy continuing education requirements for coursework in Tennessee:
These were copied from the Rules of the Tennessee Board of Occupational Therapy and
Tennessee Board of Physical Therapy, revised in March 2023.
RULES OF THE TENNESSEE BOARD OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
CHAPTER 1150-02
GENERAL RULES GOVERNING THE PRACTICE OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
1150-02-.12 CONTINUED COMPETENCE.
(3) Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants are required to complete twenty-four (24) continued competence credits for the two (2) calendar years (January 1 – December 31) that precede the licensure renewal year.
(4) Twelve (12) of the required twenty-four (24) continued competence credits must be directly related to the delivery of occupational therapy services.
(5) One (1) hour of the required twenty-four (24) continued competence credits shall pertain to the AOTA Code of Ethics or other ethics related continued competence activities which have implications for the practice of occupational therapy.
(6) One (1) hour of the required twenty-four (24) continued competence credits shall pertain to the occupational therapy portions of T.C.A. §§ 63-13-101, et seq., the Tennessee Occupational and Physical Therapy Practice Act, and shall pertain to Chapter 1150-02, General Rules Governing the Practice of Occupational Therapy.
(7) Suicide Prevention Training required under the “Kenneth and Madge Tullis, MD Suicide Prevention Training Act”:
(a) Current Tennessee Licensees – Beginning January 1, 2020, all persons who hold an
active license as an occupational therapist must complete a minimum two (2) hour
training program by a Board-approved provider relative to suicide prevention at least
once every four (4) years.
(8) Ten (10) hours of the required twenty-four (24) continued competence credits may pertain to the licensee’s current or anticipated professional role or may be directly related to the delivery of occupational therapy services.
(9) Continued competence credits are awarded pursuant to the Activity Table in paragraph (12).
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.
CE Broker
All OT professionals licensed in Tennessee are required to use CE Broker to log their earned continuing education hours. You can easily track OT Potential Courses on CE Broker, or take courses directly on their site for instant CEU tracking.
Do OT Potential courses count toward the continuing education required to renew my license?
Yes! You can easily earn Tennessee OT continuing education hours through OT Potential! OT Potential courses fall into two approved activities categories for Tennessee OT continuing education requirements, according to the TN board of Occupational Therapy Rules.
| Approved Activities | Equivalency | Maximum Credits | Documentation Required | |
| (bb) | Independent learning/study (e.g., CE articles, video, audio, and/or online courses.) | 2 Hours Equals 1 Credit | 12 Credits | CEUs, certificate of completion and # of contact hours awarded. |
| (cc) | Interactive online courses | 1 Hour Equals 1 Credit | 12 Credits | CEUs, certificate of completion and # of contact hours awarded. |
Most of our courses fall under (bb) ‘independent learning/study’ hours.
We also offer live webinars to help you earn up to 12 credits for (cc) ‘interactive online courses!’ Live webinars are offered monthly.
Please note: OT Potential does not currently offer courses that meet the requirement for topics pertaining to Tennessee practice rules or suicide prevention training.
Where can Tennessee 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 “Tennessee” to receive a 15% discount—and we’ll donate 15% of your order to TNOTA.
👍 Price of OT Potential with your Tennessee discount = $84.15 (Reg $99)
🎉 Donation amount to TNOTA = $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 TNOTA.
This is one of the cheapest ways to earn all of your required Tennessee OT CEUs, 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 Tennessee OT license renewal, just ask me the comments!
Ok! Ready to try OT Potential?
Get 15% off + 15% goes to support TNOTA.
Learn more, then use promo code: Tennessee