Nearly all health professionals require some sort of license or certification. To work as a Nurse, you’ll need to renew your license regularly and maybe even complete state-specific continuing education for Nurses.
As a Physical Therapist, I too have to renew my license regularly. Although I’m not an RN or LPN, I have years of experience navigating and completing license renewal requirements.
The renewal process is different for every state, but many (like mine) require licensees to complete a certain number of continuing education units (CEUs) every renewal period. So let’s take a closer look.
What is Continuing Education for Nurses?
Also called “continuing competency,” CEUs refer to courses, workshops, certifications, and other professional activities completed after licensure. By honing your skills and learning about current research, you can use continuing education to enrich your career and stay up-to-date.
Not every state requires continuing education with each renewal, but your employer or hospital might. Besides, it’s a good idea to pursue CEUs even out of personal interest. It keeps you engaged, improves your practice, and ensures you’ll provide the best care possible to your patients.
What are the Continuing Education requirements for my state?
Navigating the world of continuing education requirements can get murky. Many states don’t require continuing education hours but require periodic recertification training (e.g., New York). Licensees in Virginia have several options for renewal requirements, with continuing education hours being one of them.
If you work fewer than a certain number of hours, some states (e.g., Oregon and Wyoming) may ask you to complete CE or additional CE to compensate.
Finally, CE requirements vary depending on your particular license. Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) may have more requirements to meet than Registered Nurses (RNs), who in turn may have more than Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs). And so on.
Therefore, the best thing you can do is research what your state requires for your particular license and situation. Always check directly with your state, because other websites might not update their pages regularly.
CE requirements for RNs by State
Technically, CEUs are measured in “contact hours,” or time spent in active participation. For the purposes of this article, 1 CEU = 1 contact hour. The below requirements for active RNs reflect the latest policies as outlined in each state’s practice act or Licensing Board website (linked in blue).
State Nursing CEU Requirements
| Alabama: 24 hours every 2 years | Alaska: 30 hours every 2 years |
| Arizona: none | Arkansas: 15 hours every 2 years |
| California: 30 hours every 2 years | Colorado: 20 hours every 2 years |
| Connecticut: none | Delaware: 30 hours every 2 years |
| Florida: 24 hours every 2 years | Georgia: 30 hours every 2 years |
| Hawaii: 30 hours every 2 years | Idaho: 15 hours every 2 years |
| Illinois: 20 hours every 2 years | Indiana: none |
| Iowa: 36 hours every 3 years | Kansas: 30 hours every 2 years |
| Kentucky: 14 hours every year | Louisiana: 30 hours every 2 years |
| Maine: none | Maryland: none |
| Massachusetts: 15 hours every 2 years | Michigan: 25 hours every 2 years |
| Minnesota: 24 hours every two years | Mississippi: none (recently repealed) |
| Missouri: none | Montana: 24 every 2 years |
| Nebraska: 20 hours every 2 years | Nevada: 30 hours every 2 years |
| New Hampshire: 30 hours every 2 years | New Jersey: 30 hours every 2 years |
| New Mexico: 30 hours every 2 years | New York: none |
| North Carolina: 30 hours every 2 years | North Dakota: 12 hours every 2 years |
| Ohio: 24 every 2 years | Oklahoma: none |
| Oregon: varies, plus 2 hours every 2 years | Pennsylvania: 30 hours every 2 years |
| Rhode Island: 10 hours every 2 years | South Carolina: 30 hours every 2 years |
| South Dakota: none | Tennessee: 5 hours every 2 years |
| Texas: 20 hours every 2 years | Utah: 15 hours every 2 years |
| Vermont: none | Virginia: 15 hours (optional) every 2 years |
| Washington: 8 hours every year | Washington, D.C.: 24 hours every 2 years |
| West Virginia: 12 hours every year | Wisconsin: none |
| Wyoming: 0, 15 or 30 hours every 2 years |
What kind of Nursing Continuing Education courses can I take?
You may be now wondering, what counts as continuing education? That depends on—you guessed it—your state requirements.
Typically, a valid continuing education course is:
- relevant to your field
- provided by a reputable source
- and/or approved by a board or credentialing agency
By “credentialing agency,” I’m referring to regulatory organizations, such as the ANCC (American Nurses Credentialing Center, a branch of the ANA) or the IACET (International Association for Continuing Education and Training). These agencies hold CEU providers to a gamut of rigorous standards.
Besides being accredited, the course may need to be approved by your state’s board or another pre-approved organization. Sometimes state boards require a certain number or proportion (say, half the total number) of CE hours to be from approved providers.
But many states are more permissive. You may only need to ensure the CE content is relevant to your practice for it to be valid.
Finally, consider the topic of your CEUs. Nursing CEU courses cover a wide range of topics, from Addiction Disorders to Palliative Care and everything in between. Your state may mandate a specific course or topic, such as a one-time Child Abuse Recognition course or periodic Human Trafficking Awareness training.
Nursing CEUs Online
There’s nothing virtual about Nursing care, but Continuing Education for Nurses can be done online, on your own time and in your own home.
Some of the best providers of Online Nursing CEUs are as follows:
1) CEUfast
Nationally accredited by ANCC, the 200+ courses on CEUfast are designed specifically for Nurses and are accepted in every state. Having been around since 2002, CEUfast has mastered the online learning format, making it easy to track your progress and switch between devices without a hitch.
2) NursingCE
With NursingCE, you can tailor your CEU subscription to exactly suit your needs. They offer specific CEU packages (such as for LPNs or Wound Care, etc.) as well as courses a la carte—perfect if you only need a couple classes and don’t want to buy a whole subscription. Be sure to check out their free CEUs, too!
3) MedBridge Education
The course library at MedBridge is truly impressive. Through MedBridge’s annual subscription, Nurses can access over 800 courses, most of which are state-approved, ANCC-accredited, and relevant for providing excellent Nursing care.
You can even attend live webinars, which MedBridge offers every month as part of the subscription. Whether you need to complete 5 CEU hours or 50 (looking at you, APRNs), you’ll have no trouble finding courses that meet your needs and keep your attention.
Furthermore, MedBridge is accredited for all kinds of health professions, not just Nursing. I complete all my online PT CEUs through MedBridge, and I can say from experience that the content quality, ease of use, and learning conveniences are well worth the cost of an annual subscription.
I go into more detail about my experience using MedBridge in this review. If you’re interested in buying an annual subscription, use the code PTProgress and you’ll save $150.
Sure, you can find a cheaper subscription for Nurse CEUs online through a different provider. But cheaper isn’t always better. Take a look at the course instructors, accompanying materials, and customer support. It’s hard to beat the quality of MedBridge Education as an online learning platform.
Continuing Education for Nurses: Summary
In sum, the best continuing education courses are the ones you enjoy, learn from, and apply towards your CE requirement. MedBridge offers such courses in an online platform that’s easy to use and sufficient for all your Nursing CEU needs.
