Navigating Continuing Education Requirements for Nurse Practitioners
Maintaining certification as a Nurse Practitioner (NP) is an ongoing process, essential for ensuring current knowledge and professional competence. This article provides an overview of the continuing education (CE) requirements for NPs, focusing on recertification through the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). It serves as a starting point for newly certified NPs to understand and plan for their recertification.
Understanding Recertification
Maintenance or renewal of certification is an ongoing process designed to help NPs maintain a current knowledge base and professional competence in their practice. Soon after you achieve initial certification, you should learn your certifying organization’s certification renewal requirements and set a plan for meeting them. NPs have a professional responsibility to be aware of current recertification requirements. The certification organizations provide ample notice when requirements change. As a starting point for newly certified NPs unfamiliar with the recertification process, this article provides an overview of the current recertification requirements of each NP certifying organization.
American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB)
NPs certified by the AANPCB must renew their certification every 5 years after initial certification. The AANPCB provides two options for recertification:
- Take and pass the appropriate exam before the current 5-year certification end date.
- Meet the AANPCB’s requirements for clinical practice and continuing education (CE).
Emergency NPs must maintain active FNP certification in order to renew their ENP certification; those certified as an FNP by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) must provide a copy of a current ANCC FNP certification when applying for and renewing ENP certification through the AANPCB. The AANPCB retired the adult (ANP) and gerontologic NP (GNP) certification exams; ANPs and GNPs therefore must renew certification through clinical hours and CE. ANPs and GNPs who allow their certification to expire are unable to renew it.
For NPs renewing through clinical hours and CE, the requirements include:
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- Completing at least 1,000 hours of clinical practice in any specialty appropriate for the population focus of certification. Direct patient care duties can include direct patient care and faculty clinical supervision of NP students. Telehealth and volunteer practice are included. Student clinical practicum hours in an advanced practice program (i.e., DNP) do not qualify as NP practice hours for recertification purposes. Administrative duties involve overseeing and interacting with advanced practice providers and/or faculty. Research must be outcomes related and patient driven.
- Obtaining 100 contact hours of advanced CE in their role and specialty, of which at least 25 must be advanced practice pharmacology credits.
NPs can earn and apply up to 25 credits of non-pharmacology CE to their CE requirement by serving as a preceptor for interdisciplinary advanced healthcare students while providing direct patient care as a NP in their area of certification. A maximum of 125 preceptor hours may replace 25 non-pharmacology CE credits. Precepting is defined as serving as a clinical preceptor for interdisciplinary advanced health care student(s) while providing direct patient care as a nurse practitioner in your area of certification. To convert clinical preceptor hours to CE contact hours, see the Conversion Table in the Recertification Handbook. In addition, graduate and postgraduate courses that promote and expand knowledge and skills and are directly related to NP advance practice are accepted (1 academic semester credit = 15 contact hours); an official or unofficial transcript from an accredited university is required.
NPs who plan to maintain their certification through practice hours and CE must track their CE hours over the 5-year certification period; CE credits outside the 5-year period are not accepted. NPs who renew via the exam can begin the application process 12 months prior to certification expiration, and applications must be submitted at least 120 days before expiration to allow sufficient time for application processing, scheduling, testing, and receipt of scores. Those who renew by clinical practice and CE should apply for renewal at least 4 weeks prior to the expiration of their certification. NPs certified by the AANPCB who allow their certification to expire must take the initial certification exam.
The cost of recertification ranges from $120 (practice and CE) to $240 (exam) for American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) members and from $195 to $315 for non-members.
To apply, certificants are encouraged to apply online. When you are ready to recertify, proceed to our homepage and scroll down until you see the "Recertify Now" button. You will be prompted to login to your online profile, and will then proceed to the online application. Recertification through the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB) requires that NPs must obtain a minimum of 100 contact hours of advanced CE credit, and at least 25 of those hours need to be classified as Pharmacology related CE. If you are not familiar with the AANPCB Renewal Requirements, we highly recommend you visit their renewal webpage at aanpcert.org/recert.
Understanding CE Credit Designation
Here is an example that helps explain the primary/component credit designation. Say you find a CE activity that is worth 2.5 contact hours of CE and it is a presentation over Diabetes. During the presentation of the activity, the speaker might bring up some different medications that can be used to help treat or manage diabetes. Any time any kind of pharmacology topic or medication is discussed during a CE presentation, a certain amount of Pharmacology credit can be included as a component of the overall CE contact hours. The presenter may not spend the whole 2.5 hours talking about medications related to the topic. They may only spend 30 minutes talking about medications - which would equal roughly about 0.20 towards pharmacology credit. When you are ready to recertify, you can look at your CE and Pharmacology credit totals in your CE Tracker tool. Make sure to set the display dates for your CE Tracker to match the dates of your recertification period (remember to click "Apply" to make sure those date-changes update the page!).
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NOTE: If there are different credit types listed in this area other than CE and Pharmacology, those credit values may need to be included separately if they were not already included as part of the CE you earned previously with an activity. Determination of these values depends on the activity, the credit type that was awarded and recorded, and should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis for inclusion with your overall CE total. If you are unsure about what kind of credit types the AANPCB will accept or how those different credit types convert to CE or Pharmacology credit, you will need to reach out to AANPCB with those specific questions.
American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)
Certification by the ANCC is valid for 5 years and can be renewed by completing professional development and practice activities over the 5-year certification period. NPs can apply for renewal up to 1 year before or up to 2 years after their certification expires (which requires payment of a $125 reactivation fee). After more than 2 years, the exam must be retaken to regain certification, if the exam in your specialty is still available, and the mandatory 75 CE hours must be completed.
The ANCC’s certification renewal process requires NPs to complete:
- 75 CE hours in their certification specialty, of which 25 hours must be in pharmacotherapeutics.
- One or more activities in eight other renewal categories within the 5 years preceding their renewal application submission. Further details about what activities the ANCC will accept as fulfilling these categories are provided in the ANCC’s 2017 Certification Renewal Requirements.
To document these professional activities, NPs must record the activity in the appropriate section in the Professional Development Record of their online account. NPs do not have to submit supporting documents proving completion of these activities when they update their Professional Development Record, but they must be able to submit such documents if the AANC audits their record. Details about the required documents needed for each activity are listed in the 2017 Certification Renewal Requirements.
Resources for Continuing Education
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) offers resources to help NPs find appropriate CE activities. The AANP regularly accredits CE programs. Only activities accredited by AANP, AANP-Approved Providers and AANP Partners are included on this list. These activities are listed as a courtesy and do not imply AANP endorsement. CE activities must be approved by an accredited provider of nursing or medical education. program sponsor, CE accreditor, date of completion, number of "non-pharmacology" and pharmacology contact hours awarded. A list of various independent organizations that may provide advanced practice CE content for NPs is in the Recertification Handbook.
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AANP members get more! With your membership comes access to the AANP CE Center, which offers a comprehensive library of CE activities for NPs of all specialties and experience levels. Exclusive discounts - and many free activities - are yours as an AANP member to help you complete state licensure requirements and earn the credits needed for recertification. Keeping track of your CE is easier than ever. Completed CE records, including those from AANP national and specialty conferences, are conveniently maintained in the portfolio section of the CE Center. AANP members can also upload non-AANP certificates into their portfolio, keeping all their CE records in one, easy-to-access location. AANP annual highlights include:
- CE that fits your interests and your schedule. CE Center activities come in a variety of formats and topics, including monthly CE activities from the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (JAANP) and The Journal for Nurse Practitioners (JNP). In addition to receiving a free online subscription to JAANP with your AANP membership, each issue includes AANP-accredited CE! Stay current with clinical and policy concerns affecting your day-to-day practice with JNP.
- The place to be for live CE. The AANP national conference offers hundreds of educational sessions and hands-on workshops each year, many of which come with pharmacology credit.
- Showcase your work and learn from other industry professionals. AANP offers poster presentations and awards CE credit for unopposed poster sessions. Plus, you’ll have the chance to connect with NPs from across the country for an unparalleled learning experience.
Whether you’re looking to learn new skills to best serve your patients, to grow your career and expand your practice or to prepare for nurse practitioner (NP) certification, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) is here to help you find the right CE to fit your needs. In addition to receiving a free online subscription, AANP members have access to accredited CE in every issue of JAANP! Get your journal and your CE, too, with AANP-accredited, online CE articles. Education is essential for NPs. AANP regularly accredits CE programs to provide members with even more opportunities for advanced learning. Your CE on your schedule.
DEA Training Requirement for Substance Use Disorders
Beginning on June 27, 2023, Section 1263 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 requires that all practitioners applying for a new or renewed Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration will need to complete at least eight hours of training on opioid or other substance use disorders, or be board certified in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry.
- How often does this need to be done? The training requirement is a one-time only requirement and must be affirmed on the DEA registrant’s next scheduled DEA registration submission - either the initial registration or the renewal - occurring on or after June 27, 2023.
- Is the 8-hour training a specific course I need to take? No. There is not a specific 8-hour course that needs to be taken. Practitioners can select multiple continuing education (CE) activities that meet their specific area of interest in opioid or substance use disorders to fulfill the requirement. The training content can be provided through any combination of different activity formats (online on-demand, live webinar, recorded webinar, conference session, audio digest, etc).
- What CE activities can qualify to meet this requirement? Any new trainings and previously completed trainings - including the DATA 2000 Waiver training - can count toward meeting the requirement if those trainings are/were on the treatment and management of patients with opioid and other substance use disorders and are/were accredited by designated organizations (AANP is listed as a designated organization).
If you are looking for additional CE activities to take to meet this requirement, you can visit the “Courses that Meet DEA Requirements” category in the AANP CE Center for a comprehensive and up-to-date listing of all the content AANP has to offer related to this requirement subject area. Any content completed from this area should be accepted by the DEA for their training requirement. Some content in this area is available for free, and some of it has a cost.
To ensure compliance, check if the CE content you’ve completed will meet the DEA requirements.
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