CA • GA • HI • LA • NV • NM • SC • UT • PA • VA • MD • NH • AK • NC • KS & Other States Where ANCC CE Is Accepted

Who Is This Package For?

Understanding Pharmacology CE Requirements for Nurses

Pharmacology continuing education requirements vary based on your license type, state, and certification body. Understanding these requirements helps you choose the right CE package for your needs.

APRN & NP Pharmacology Requirements

Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs) with prescriptive authority often need dedicated pharmacology CE hours. Requirements may come from multiple sources:

• ANCC Certification: Requires 75 CE hours per 5-year cycle with pharmacology hours based on specialty
• State Requirements: Some states mandate specific pharmacology hours beyond certification requirements

State APRN Pharmacology Hour Requirements

The 16 pharmacotherapeutics hours in this package meet or exceed the pharmacology hour requirement in several states, and fall short in others:

Requirements change. Confirm your current rule with your Board of Nursing before relying on these hours. States that also require controlled substance or opioid prescribing hours from a state-approved provider, such as Utah, need additional coursework beyond this package.

Why Pharmacology CE Matters

Even without a state mandate, pharmacology knowledge is clinically important. This package covers:

• High-alert medications and safety considerations
• Drug interactions in polypharmacy patients
• Newer drug classes including GLP-1 agonists, SGLT2 inhibitors, and novel anticoagulants
• Cannabis therapeutics and nursing implications
• Ketamine/esketamine for treatment-resistant depression
• Heart failure pharmacotherapy updates

30 Contact Hours

Completes the hour requirement in 30-hour renewal states, including CA, GA, HI, LA, NV, NM, SC, UT, PA, VA, MD, NH, AK, NC, and KS.

16 Hours Pharmacology

Pharmacotherapeutics CE for APRNs, NPs, and RNs seeking medication-focused education.

CE Broker Reporting

Eligible completions are reported to CE Broker for participating states, including FL, GA, SC, NH, KS, NM, AR, and MS, where supported. Louisiana nurses submit certificates directly to LSBN by mail, so keep your certificates.

ANCC Accredited (P0557)

ANCC-accredited nursing continuing education from Provider P0557.

Online Access

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Comprehensive pharmacology covering medications in primary care and medical-surgical settings, including antihypertensives, diabetes medications, antibiotics, anticoagulants, respiratory drugs, and pain management. Covers drug classes, mechanisms, dosing, adverse effects, and clinical applications.

Evidence-based approaches to obesity assessment, nutrition counseling, and weight management across the lifespan, including behavioral strategies, metabolic considerations, and current pharmacologic and surgical treatment options.

In-depth coverage of heart failure pathophysiology, assessment, and evidence-based management. Includes 2 hours of pharmacology content covering ACE inhibitors, ARBs, ARNIs, beta-blockers, diuretics, and SGLT2 inhibitors in heart failure management.

Current evidence on medical cannabis, including cannabinoid pharmacology, therapeutic applications, drug interactions, state legal considerations, and nursing implications for patients using cannabis products.

Emerging pharmacotherapy for treatment-resistant depression, including ketamine and esketamine mechanisms, REMS requirements, administration protocols, monitoring, and nursing implications.

Pennsylvania*

This package covers

26 of your 30 required contact hours.

What you still need

4 of your 30 hours must come from state-approved providers.

Child abuse recognition and reporting (Act 31): 2 hours every renewal, 3 hours at initial licensure. Must come from a provider approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services or the Department of State. The Department of Human Services, with the University of Pittsburgh Child Welfare Resource Center, offers a free 3-hour online training that satisfies both, and completion is reported to the Department of State automatically. Full list of approved providers: PA Department of State Act 31 providers.

Organ and tissue donation: 2 hours, one time. Effective May 1, 2026 under Act 90, required once within 5 years of initial licensure or renewal. Must come from an organ procurement organization under 49 Pa. Code § 21.134(a)(11). Both Pennsylvania OPOs offer it free: Gift of Life Donor Program for eastern Pennsylvania and the Center for Organ Recovery & Education for the west.

Renew Now CE cannot provide either course.

Maryland*

This package covers

Your 30 CEUs, if you are renewing on the CE pathway. Maryland accepts ANCC-approved CEUs by name under COMAR 10.27.01.13.H(5), and defines a CEU as one contact hour of 50 to 60 minutes.

What you still need

Maryland RNs and LPNs can renew three ways, and 30 CEUs is only one of them. You may instead document 1,000 hours of active nursing practice within the preceding 5 years, or completion of a Board-approved nursing program within those 5 years. If you can document the practice hours, you do not need this package. CEUs must be earned in the 2 years immediately before your renewal application, cannot be carried forward, and must be kept for 6 years and produced within 30 days if you are audited.

Implicit bias and structural racism training is separate from your hours. Under Health Occupations §1-225, enacted by HB 783 in 2025, you attest at your first license renewal after April 1, 2026 that you completed an approved program. It is one time, not recurring. Structural racism training is required of everyone. Implicit bias training is required only if you have not already completed it for a prior renewal under the earlier 2021 requirement, so many Maryland nurses need only the structural racism piece. The program must be approved by the Cultural and Linguistic Health Care Professional Competency Program, which can approve only courses recognized by a health occupations board or accredited by ACCME or ACPE. Renew Now CE cannot supply it under our ANCC accreditation. MBON points to the MHHD implicit bias page for the approved list.

Virginia*

This package covers

Your 30 contact hours if you renew on that option, plus 16 pharmacology hours, twice the 8 that Virginia prescriptive authority requires. Virginia's approved provider list names the American Nurses Credentialing Center first.

What you still need

Virginia does not require 30 hours from everyone. Under 18VAC90-19-160.A you satisfy continued competency by completing any one of nine options. Thirty contact hours is one of them. Fifteen contact hours plus 640 hours of active practice is another, and current specialty certification from a national certifying organization satisfies it on its own with no contact hours at all.

Nurse practitioners do not complete the RN requirement. Under 18VAC90-19-160.C.2 they meet 18VAC90-30-105 instead, which for anyone licensed on or after May 8, 2002 means holding current national certification, plus 8 pharmacology hours per biennium under 18VAC90-40-55 if they hold prescriptive authority. Your first renewal after initial licensure by examination or endorsement is exempt. Keep your documentation for four years and produce it within 30 days if you are audited.

• Virginia Board of Nursing, Continued Competency for RN and LPN
• Continued Competency for APRNs
• 18VAC90-40-55, prescriptive authority continuing competency

North Carolina*

This package covers

Your 30 contact hours if you renew on that option. The North Carolina Board of Nursing lists the American Nurses Credentialing Center first among acceptable continuing education providers, and Renew Now CE is ANCC Accredited Provider P0557.

What you still need

North Carolina does not require 30 hours from everyone. You complete one of eight continuing competence options. Thirty contact hours is one. Fifteen contact hours plus 640 hours of active practice in the previous 2 years is another, and national certification or re-certification by a board-recognized credentialing body satisfies the requirement on its own. The remaining options pair 15 contact hours with a nursing research project, a published article or book chapter, or developing and presenting at least five contact hours of nursing CE, and there are separate paths for a board-approved refresher course or two semester hours of post-licensure academic coursework.

Also licensed in Virginia? Virginia offers the same 15 contact hours plus 640 practice hours option. If you meet the practice threshold, 15 hours can satisfy both states.

North Carolina does not grant grace periods. NCBON states that all continuing competence requirements must be met before a renewal or reinstatement license is issued, with no exceptions. If you cannot demonstrate compliance, your license goes to inactive status at 12:01 a.m. on the first day after your renewal date and stays there until you comply. Audits are announced through the Nurse Portal when renewal notices are released, and you submit evidence only if the Board asks.

Two details worth knowing. North Carolina defines one contact hour as 60 minutes, and accepts contact hours or CEUs in any combination, with 0.1 CEU equal to one contact hour. And employer-sponsored continuing education counts for no more than half your total hours unless it is accredited through one of NCBON's recognized bodies, so hospital in-services alone will not get you there. NCBON does not accept offerings designed for lay persons, offerings under 30 minutes, or on-the-job orientation and training. See the NCBON continuing competence page.

South Carolina*

This package covers

Your 30 contact hours if you renew on that option. The South Carolina Board of Nursing accepts continuing education approved by both ANCC and ACCME, and Renew Now CE holds both. South Carolina also tracks continuing education through CE Broker, the board's official system, and eligible completions are reported for you.

What you still need

South Carolina does not require 30 hours from everyone. Under Nurse Practice Act §40-33-40 you demonstrate competency with any one of four options: 30 contact hours, maintaining certification or re-certification by a board-recognized national certifying body, completing an academic program of study in nursing or a related field, or verification of competency by your employer on a board-approved form. The Board does not set a minimum number of practice hours for that last option. It asks only that you practice enough hours for your employer to verify your competency, so many employed South Carolina nurses do not need continuing education at all.

South Carolina gives you five business days. Keep your documented evidence for at least four years, and be ready to produce it within five business days of a request or a random audit. Failure to provide satisfactory evidence in that window results in immediate temporary suspension or cancellation of your license pending compliance. Contact hours must be completed during the licensure period and cannot be carried over, and a given course counts only once per period no matter how many times you take it.

South Carolina APRNs need more pharmacology than this package provides. APRNs with prescriptive authority maintain national certification and complete 20 contact hours of pharmacotherapeutics within the preceding two years, with 2 of those hours on prescribing controlled substances. This package includes 16 pharmacology hours, so you would need additional pharmacotherapeutics hours to reach 20.

Reinstating a lapsed or inactive license of five years or less? You need the 30 contact hours plus a board-approved legal aspects in nursing course, which Renew Now CE does not offer. See the South Carolina Board of Nursing continuing education page for the current approved course and the full competency criteria.

New Hampshire*

This package covers

Your 30 contact hours for RN or LPN renewal, plus 16 pharmacology hours. New Hampshire tracks continuing education through CE Broker, and eligible completions are reported for you.

What you still need

RNs and LPNs need 30 contact hours in the 2 years before renewal under Nur 403.01(a), and current national certification can be used instead. New Hampshire also has a separate active-in-practice requirement of 400 hours in the preceding 4 years, which continuing education does not replace.

APRNs owe more. Under Nur 403.01(d), an APRN completes 30 contact hours in addition to the RN requirement, for 60 total, with at least 20 specific to their specialty practice area and 5 in pharmacology appropriate to that specialty. Specialty certification counts as 30 of the 60. If you hold an active DEA number for prescribing in New Hampshire, 3 of your 5 pharmacology hours must address opioid prescribing, pain management, or substance use disorder. Our Safe Opioid Prescribing and Substance Use Disorder Pharmacology course is 6 pharmacology hours and covers that.

Louisiana*

This package covers

Your 30 board-approved contact hours, if you are renewing on the CE option. LSBN accepts continuing education accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, and every certificate we issue carries the ANCC accreditation statement LSBN requires.

What you still need

Louisiana RNs do not all owe 30 hours. LSBN requires at least one of the following during the 2-year licensure period: 30 board-approved contact hours of CE, or 900 practice hours verified by your employer on a board form. Additional options include current certification in a nursing specialty recognized by LSBN held for the full 2-year period, qualifying post-secondary nursing coursework documented by official transcript, and initial Louisiana RN licensure by examination or endorsement during the previous calendar year. Practice hours earned in another state count. If you can document your practice hours, you do not need this package.

All requirements must be complete before you submit your renewal application, so the practical deadline is the day you renew.

The Louisiana audit is unforgiving, so keep your certificates. LSBN randomly selects no less than 3 percent of licensees, on or around March following renewal. Audit documents must be mailed or hand delivered in one envelope. Faxed, emailed, and nurse portal submissions are not accepted. Compliance is determined on your first submission and resubmissions are not accepted. Keep your documentation for five years.

LSBN requires six components on each certificate: the provider's company name, your name, the course title, the number of contact hours awarded, the date the hours were awarded, and a clear printed statement that the course was accredited or recognized for nursing continuing education by ANCC or a specific US state board of nursing. LSBN will not accept a transcript, summary report, or CE tracking report in place of individual certificates, and states that the most common reason RNs fail the audit is not having proof of CE accredited by ANCC or approved by a state board.

Louisiana APRNs: national board certification satisfies your Louisiana RN license renewal. Separately, APRNs with prescriptive authority owe 6 pharmacotherapeutics contact hours each year, and LSBN asks for 12 at audit. The pharmacology hours in this package are general nursing CE. See our Louisiana APRN CE Package for hours that state pharmacotherapeutics separately on the certificate. Source: LSBN continuing education FAQs.

Utah*

This package covers

Your 30 hours of approved continuing education, if you are renewing on that option.

What you still need

Utah RNs and LPNs meet the requirement three ways over the past 2 years: at least 400 hours of licensed practice, or at least 200 hours with 15 hours of approved continuing education, or 30 hours of approved continuing education. If you worked 400 hours you do not need CE at all, and if you worked 200 you need only 15 hours.

Suicide prevention training is required at every renewal, and it is free. Complete at least one of DOPL's three online trainings: Suicide Safety Planning with Patients, Talking to Patients About Suicide, or Counseling on Access to Lethal Means. Each is 0.5 credit, and DOPL confirms these qualify for CE credit, so the half hour counts toward your total rather than sitting on top of it. Links are on the DOPL RN and LPN renewal page.

Utah APRNs follow a different path. You renew by holding current certification or re-certification in your specialty area. The 400 practice hours plus 30 CE hours alternative applies only to APRNs licensed before July 1, 1992. If you hold controlled substance privileges you also complete 4 hours of approved controlled substance prescribing education each renewal period: 3.5 hours from DOPL's approved course list plus 0.5 hours from DOPL's online controlled substance tutorial. Those 3.5 hours must come from a course on DOPL's list. See the DOPL APRN with Controlled Substance renewal page.

Utah renewal dates are fixed, not birthday based. RN licenses expire January 31 of odd years. LPN and APRN licenses expire January 31 of even years. DOPL mails a renewal notice 60 days before expiration. Reinstatement costs $20 if you are 30 days late and $50 from 31 days to 2 years. A license expired more than 2 years cannot be renewed and requires a new application.

Kansas*

This package covers

All 30 contact hours of approved continuing nursing education. Kansas has no practice-hour alternative, so every renewing RN and LPN needs the full 30. KSBN accepts hours from any provider approved by a national nursing credentialing association, which includes our ANCC accreditation, Provider P0557. Kansas also tracks continuing education through CE Broker, the board's official system.

What you still need

New nurses are exempt. You do not owe the 30 hours if your license expires within 30 months following initial licensure by examination, or for a renewal that falls within the first 9 months after reinstatement or endorsement. Check your expiration date before you buy.

Continuing medical education does not count in Kansas. CME is not acceptable for any Kansas licensure requirement unless it is approved through KSBN's Individual Offering Approval process, and an IOA must be approved before you renew, not afterward. The same applies to college courses and to any offering from a provider KSBN does not recognize.

Kansas wants your license number on the certificate. If you are audited, each certificate must show the offering name, the provider or accrediting organization name, the provider or accrediting organization number where applicable, the offering date, the contact hours awarded, your name, and your license number. Check your certificates for that last item before renewal.

Kansas APRNs complete 30 contact hours of approved CNE related to the advanced practice registered nurse role. At audit, if a certificate does not state that the education is approved for advanced practice nurses, you must also submit the offering's learning objectives.

One terminology note: Kansas defines a contact hour as 50 minutes and defines a CEU as 10 contact hours, which is the opposite of how some states use the term. Kansas wants 30 contact hours, not 30 CEUs. See the KSBN continuing nursing education page.

Alaska*

This package covers

One of the two methods Alaska requires: the full 30 contact hours of continuing education under 12 AAC 44.610. Alaska accepts continuing education certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, and because all 30 hours here are ANCC accredited, you also clear the rule that at least 20 of your 30 hours come from an accredited program.

What you still need

Alaska requires two methods, not one. Before your license renews you must complete two of the following: 30 contact hours of continuing education, 30 hours of uncompensated professional activities, or 320 hours of employment as an RN or LPN. This package completes the first. Most working nurses pair it with their employment hours, which a full-time nurse reaches in roughly eight weeks. Alternatives under 12 AAC 44.640 include a board-approved refresher course, taking the NCLEX, or earning at least six academic credits toward a nursing degree or certificate beyond your original license.

If you are pairing with volunteer hours, Alaska is specific about what counts. Accepted examples include camp nursing, giving flu shots or vaccines, school health assessments, reviewing medications in an assisted living home, teaching at a facility skills fair, health fair education, first aid, doula work, end of life comfort care, respite care, attending board or professional association meetings, and Red Cross or HIV clinic volunteering. Not accepted: therapy dog work, working as a medical assistant, and working as a receptionist.

Alaska does not accept CPR or BLS for contact hours or in-service hours, though it does accept ACLS, PALS, and other advanced courses. CRNAs may use A credits only, not B credits.

Alaska APRNs follow the same two-of-three structure, and prescriptive authority adds 15 contact hours in advanced pharmacology and clinical management of drug therapy under 12 AAC 44.440, countable within the 30. If you hold a DEA registration you also need 2 hours in pain management and opioid use and addiction under 12 AAC 44.445. Our Alaska APRN 30-Hour Package includes 18 pharmacology hours and the 2-hour pain management course. See the Alaska Board of Nursing continued competency page.

New Mexico*

This package covers

Your 30 contact hours for RN or LPN renewal. New Mexico accepts continuing education approved by nationally recognized nursing organizations, and Renew Now CE holds both ANCC accreditation, Provider P0557, and New Mexico Board of Nursing approval #50-18921. New Mexico tracks continuing education through CE Broker, and eligible completions are reported for you.

What you still need

RNs have a second option. New Mexico RNs need 30 contact hours per 24-month period, or current national certification in a specialty such as CCRN, CPN, or CNOR. Verification of that certification is accepted in place of the 30 hours. LPNs complete the 30 contact hours. If your licensing period is shorter than 24 months, the required hours are prorated.

New Mexico APRNs mostly do not need this package. If you hold current national certification from a body such as ANCC or NBCRNA, that certification covers your APRN and RN continuing education. The one thing it does not cover is non-cancer pain management. Under Rule 9, 16.12.9 NMAC, APRNs who hold a DEA registration and a New Mexico controlled substance license complete 5 contact hours of non-cancer pain management every renewal cycle. Our New Mexico Non-Cancer Pain Management course is built for exactly that requirement and reports to CE Broker.

APRNs without national certification owe more: 30 contact hours for the RN license, 10 hours of pharmacology, and 5 hours related to CNP practice, plus the 5 hours of non-cancer pain management if you hold a DEA. Without a DEA, that becomes 5 additional hours related to CNP practice.

Your certificate must show the number of approved CE hours awarded, your name, the sponsoring agency, the approval body, and the date attended. New Mexico defines one contact hour as 60 minutes, treats one CEU as 10 contact hours, and counts one semester credit as 15 contact hours. One caution for compact and travel nurses: continuing education approved through a New Mexico local monitoring system counts in New Mexico but may not be accepted by other state boards. See the New Mexico Board of Nursing continuing education page.

Nevada*

This package covers

Your 30 contact hours.

What you still need

4 hours of cultural competency every renewal cycle, from a course approved by the Nevada State Board of Nursing. A one-time 4-hour bioterrorism course is also required. See the Nevada State Board of Nursing continuing education page.

CA, GA, HI

This package covers

Your 30 contact hours.

What you still need

Verify any state-specific or role-specific topics with your Board of Nursing. Several states allow renewal through practice hours or specialty certification instead of continuing education, so check which pathway applies to you before you buy.

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