CE Requirements for Nurse Practitioners in Kentucky

Kentucky APRNs are required to earn fourteen (14) contact hours of continuing education from an approved provider of CE each year to renew their license.

However, an APRN's board certification can satisfy the 14 contact hour requirement needed for RN licensure renewal (national certification), as long as the APRN certification was initially attained during the licensure period, has been in effect during the entire licensure period, or has been renewed during the licensure period. If these requirements are met, APRNs do not need to earn 14 contact hours of CE to renew their RN licenses.

• One-time requirements:
  •  All APRNs must complete a minimum of two (2) contact hours in suicide prevention, including one (1) contact hour in suicide prevention generally, and one (1) contact hour that addresses chronic stress, pathways to care, systems of care, and ethical considerations.
  • All APRNs must complete a minimum of one-and-a-half (1.5) contact hours in implicit bias that addresses the impact of historical racism, methods of identifying implicit bias, and measure to reduce implicit bias.
  • Nurses who hold an active license on July 1, 2022 must complete the hours for both of these new requirements by July 1, 2023. These are one-time requirements. APRNs will not be able to apply these hours to their annual CE requirements, as they do not include pharmacology content.
• All APRNs are required to complete at least 5 contact hours in pharmacology every earning period.
• APRNs with a CAPA-CS: of the five (5) approved pharmacology contact hours required for APRN licensure renewal, one and one-half (1.5) of these approved contact hours must be in the dual subject of pharmacology and either pain management or addiction disorders. It may be used to satisfy other CE requirements. T
• APRNs with a DEA Registration: amd PDMP account must dedicate 3 of the 5 required pharmacology hours to subjects of pain management or addiction disorders each year. *New for 10/31/2024 renewal. 
• For nurses who hold a SANE credential, five (5) contact hours related to Forensic medicine or domestic violence are required every earning period. These hours may count as part of the required 14 contact hours of CE needed for licensure renewal.