What the District of Columbia Requires for RN Renewal

Under 17 DCMR § 5406, an applicant for renewal of a District of Columbia registered nurse license must complete twenty-four (24) hours of continuing education during the two years before the license expires. Two conditions apply to those 24 hours:

• 2 hours of LGBTQ cultural competency. D.C. Code § 3-1205.10(b)(5) requires 2 credits of instruction on cultural competency or specialized clinical training focusing on patients who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender nonconforming, queer, or who question their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression (LGBTQ). The Board of Nursing applies this to every RN renewal.
• 10% in public health priorities. Under D.C. Code § 3-1203.02(12), the Director of DC Health identifies public health priority topics, and at least ten percent of your required total must be in those subjects. On a 24-hour cycle that is 2.4 hours; the Board's 2026 renewal letter states it as 2.5 hours.

The Board counts fifty (50) minutes of an approved program as one (1) continuing education credit, and it may audit licensees to confirm compliance. Nurses renewing for the first time after initial licensure are not required to complete continuing education.

Birth-Month Renewal Transition: Shortened License Terms

DC Health Public Health Priority Topics

The Director's current public notice groups the priority topics into five areas:

1. Sexual and Reproductive Health: sexual history taking, adolescent health, cervical cancer, contraception, maternal and perinatal health, violence prevention, breastfeeding.
2. Chronic Disease Management: obesity prevention, lifestyle modification, and management of specific diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and kidney disease.
3. One Health: vector-borne and zoonotic diseases, water quality, antimicrobial resistance, food security, environmental contamination, air quality, and the health effects of climate change.
4. Healthcare Professional Retention and Capacity Building: suicide prevention, burnout, quality improvement, substance use disorder, implicit bias, and cultural competence.
5. Community and Patient Safety: fall prevention, violence prevention, emergency preparedness, the effects of social media, infection control, and cognitive impairment screening.

This package covers two of those areas with 16 hours: Chronic Disease Management (Obesity and Nutrition, 10 hours) and Substance Use Disorder (Safe Opioid Prescribing and SUD Pharmacology, 6 hours). That is far more than the 2.4 to 2.5 hours required, so an audit won't leave you short. Read the DC Health public notice (PDF).

Courses Included

Why the DC Board of Nursing Accepts These Hours

17 DCMR § 5410 recognizes continuing education approved by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Renew Now CE is an ANCC Accredited Provider (P0557), so every course in this package counts toward DC renewal without separate District course approval.

Documenting Your Hours

Each course issues a PDF certificate as soon as you pass the post-test. It lists the course title, contact hours, completion date, and our ANCC provider number, which is what you need for your renewal application or a Board audit. Keep all four certificates. They also stay in your Renew Now CE account, and you can download them again at any time.

Are You a DC APRN?

This package is built for RN renewal. DC APRNs must include 15 hours of pharmacology in their renewal CE. This package has 8 pharmacology hours, so APRNs should add our Complete ANCC Pharmacology Renewal Package or check with the Board about their specific requirements.