Illinois Nurse Practitioner CE Requirements

Renewal cycle

2 years (biennial); APRN licenses expire May 31 of even-numbered years (current deadline May 31, 2026)

Total CE hours

80 hours of continuing education in the APRN's specialty per 2-year cycle (225 ILCS 65 / 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.130). At least 50 of the 80 must be from approved CE programs; up to 30 hours may come from presentations, publications, research, EBP/QI projects, or precepting.

Pharmacology CE

20 hours of pharmacotherapeutics per renewal cycle (within the 50 approved-program hours), which must include 10 hours of opioid prescribing or substance-abuse education.

Controlled-substance CE

APRNs holding an Illinois Controlled Substances Registration that includes Schedule II must complete 3 hours of CE on safe opioid prescribing practices (counts toward the 80/20 totals). The 10 opioid/substance-abuse hours are embedded in the 20 pharmacotherapeutics hours. Additional one-time/one-hour mandates within the 80: 1 hr sexual harassment prevention; 1 hr implicit bias awareness (since 2024 renewals); 1 hr Alzheimer's disease diagnosis/treatment/care (since 2024, for APRNs serving adult patients 26+) — all relevant to a PMHNP.

Good to know

Heaviest CE burden of the five states. Same 80-hour structure applies to APRNs and FPA-APRNs (full practice authority). CE must be completed in the 24 months preceding expiration. A PMHNP's 80 specialty hours must be in their psychiatric-mental-health specialty; the 10-hour opioid/substance-abuse component overlaps naturally with addiction-psychiatry content.

Official sources