Stay Certified with the ANCC-Accredited 25-Hour Pharmacology CE Package for Nurses and NPs
A: Yes. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) requires Nurses and Nurse Practitioners to complete Pharmacology continuing education as part of certification renewal.
State: National – ANCC
Profession: Nurses and Nurse Practitioners
Required Hours: 25 hours of Pharmacology CE (within the 75 mandatory CE hours required every 5 years)
Governing Rule/Citation: ANCC Certification Renewal Requirements (75 CE hours every 5 years, including 25 hours in Pharmacology)
Renew Now CE provides an Instant Certificate for immediate license submission.
The Challenge of ANCC Renewal: 25 Pharmacology Hours
You know the drill: ANCC certification renewal requires 75 CE hours every five years, and 25 of those hours must be in Pharmacology. Finding that specific, ANCC-accredited content can be difficult and time-consuming. We built this comprehensive package to solve that problem. Get all your essential pharmacology CE in one self-paced, fully accredited solution to maintain your professional certification without the stress.
Why 100,000+ Nurses and HCP trust Renew Now CE:
ANCC Certification Renewal
Some important highlights regarding ANCC’s continuing education requirements for renewal:
- First and foremost, there are 75 mandatory continuing education hours, of which 25 must be in pharmacology.
- Additionally, you can choose one of your certification renewal categories as an additional 75 continuing education hours for a total of 150 continuing education hours.
- Furthermore, for the mandatory hours, at least 60 of the 75 must be formally approved hours, i.e., hours from an accredited provider or approver of nursing education, for example, an ANCC approved provider.
- Moreover, the hours can also be approved through Joint Accreditation or AMA, continuing medical education (CME) hours.
- You can claim credit for a specific course just once. Even if you take a course multiple times in the five-year renewal window, you can only claim credit once.
By maintaining your certification throughout the five-year process and tracking your progress, you can avoid last-minute stress. However, if you wait until your renewal, inputting between 75 and 150 hours of continuing education credit into the ANCC’s website will take a great deal of time. Read our blog post with suggestions on keeping on top of your required CE for ANCC license renewal here: Use a Filing System to Track your CE for ANCC Certification Renewal.
In the event that you do lapse without renewing on time, rest assured that the ANCC has a policy for reactivation. You can find more details in their policy: Certification Renewal Requirements
The American Nurses Credentialing Center Renewal Categories
In addition to continuing education and pharmacology CE, it’s helpful to know that the American Nurses Credentialing Center offers eight certification renewal categories:
ANCC Renewal Categories: Changing February 1, 2027
ANCC has reorganized its eight renewal categories into three professional development pathways, effective for renewal applications submitted on or after February 1, 2027. You select one pathway and complete one activity within it.
Pathway 1 — Additional Continuing Education. An additional 75 contact hours beyond the required 75, for 150 total. Academic coursework converts at 15 CE CH per semester credit and 12.5 per quarter credit.
Pathway 2 — Practice. A minimum of 1,000 nursing practice hours, or 120 preceptorship hours, or 120 volunteer service hours, in your certification role, population, or setting.
Pathway 3 — Scholarship. One EBP or QI project, one publication (or five non-peer-reviewed articles), presentations totaling five clock hours, or one research activity.
Three things that changed
Renewal by examination is eliminated. The Test or Portfolio category is no longer available for applications submitted on or after February 1, 2027. Nurses who used the exam as a fallback now need a continuing education and pathway plan.
Volunteer service is measured in hours, not years. The previous “two or more consecutive years” standard becomes 120 volunteer service hours.
Academic credits are no longer a standalone category. They convert into continuing education contact hours instead.
What did not change
Five-year renewal cycles, an active RN license, 75 continuing education contact hours, and — for APRN certificants — at least 25 of those hours in pharmacology.
One thing worth knowing about pharmacology: ANCC Outcome-Based Continuing Education (OB-CE) Level Credit can be applied to continuing education contact hour requirements, but not to the 25 pharmacology hours. If your employer supplies OB-CE credit, you still owe the pharmacology hours separately.
For more information on renewing your ANCC license, visit: Certification Renewal Requirements.
Choose Renew Now CE’s Complete Pharmacology CE Package with Confidence
When selecting your CE courses, rest assured that all courses in the package are:
- Nationally accredited and state board compliant CE Courses
- Highly-rated CE content – average review 4.7/5 stars
- Up-to-date, practice-applicable content
- Courses peer-reviewed by a team of healthcare providers
- Easy to use platform
- Affordably priced courses
- Instantly emailed receipts for easy employer reimbursement
- Responsive customer support team
- Automatically reports to CE Broker for mandatory states
- Certificates issued automatically and stored for six years. Return to print at any time.
When you purchase this package you will be enrolled in the following courses individually and can complete each individually at your own pace. Courses save your progress.
ANCC’s New 2027 Renewal Manual
Read more about ANCC certification renewal and suggestions here: