Kentucky Nurse Practitioner CE Requirements

• Licenses renew annually.
• The licensure year runs November 1 through October 31.

• The RN-level requirement is 14 contact hours per year — deemed met by maintaining current national APRN certification, which is required for all APRNs.
• On top of that, APRNs must complete the state-specific pharmacology CE below each year.

• 5 contact hours of pharmacology every year (Nov 1 – Oct 31), required of all APRNs (201 KAR 20:215).
• Content must include drug-specific information, safe prescribing practices, or similar pharmacology objectives.
• This is a recurring, hard requirement — 5 hours annually is roughly 10 hours per 2-year equivalent.

• APRNs who are DEA-registered and have a KASPER (Kentucky PDMP) account must complete at least 3 of the required 5 annual pharmacology hours in pain management or addiction disorders.
• APRNs authorized to certify medicinal cannabis need an additional 3 contact hours per year on cannabis topics.
• The federal one-time 8-hour DEA MATE training also applies to DEA registrants.

• The 3-of-5 pain-management/addiction-disorders hours apply to any DEA-registered PMHNP.
• CE must come from a KBN-approved provider, another state board of nursing, or a national nursing organization (201 KAR 20:220).

Official sources