Hawaii Nurse Practitioner CE Requirements

• Licenses renew every 2 years (biennial).
• All nursing licenses expire June 30 of odd-numbered years.

• APRNs with prescriptive authority must document 30 CE hours to renew that authority
  • 8 hours in pharmacology
  • 22 hours in the practice specialty
• The underlying RN license requires completion of ONE board-recognized learning activity per biennium — options include 30 contact hours of CE, national certification/recertification, a refresher course, academic credits, a 120-hour preceptorship, or a board-preapproved research project (HRS 457-9.2 and 457-9.3).
  • Alternatives include a refresher course, preceptorship, or research project
• APRNs must also maintain current national certification.

• 8 contact hours of (advanced) pharmacology per biennium — required only for APRNs holding prescriptive authority.
• The remaining 22 of the 30 hours must be in the APRN's practice specialty.
• No pharmacology-specific hours for APRNs without prescriptive authority.

• No separate state-mandated opioid or controlled-substance CE hour count for APRNs beyond the 8-hour pharmacology requirement tied to prescriptive authority.
• The federal DEA MATE Act one-time 8-hour training applies to DEA registrants independently of state rules.

• The 30-hour / 8-pharmacology requirement is tied to renewing prescriptive authority, not the base APRN license
  • Failure to renew prescriptive authority by the June 30 deadline results in automatic forfeiture; it can be restored within six months, after which it is automatically terminated (HAR 16-89-123).
• The APRN license cannot be renewed unless the RN license is renewed.
• A PMHNP with prescriptive authority can count psychiatric CE toward the 22 specialty hours.
• Hawaii DCCA has draft revisions to HAR 16-89 in circulation (2026) — check for updates at renewal time.

Official sources