New Hampshire Nurse Practitioner CE Requirements

Renewal cycle

2 years (biennial; expires on the licensee's birthday)

Total CE hours

60 contact hours in the 2 years before renewal: 30 hours satisfying RN continuing competence PLUS an additional 30 APRN hours (Nur 401.03). Current national certification is mandatory and may count for 30 of the 60 hours.

Pharmacology CE

5 of the additional 30 APRN hours must be education in pharmacology (appropriate to the specialty practice area), per N.H. Admin. Code Nur 401.03.

Controlled-substance CE

APRNs who prescribe controlled substances / hold DEA registration: 3 of the 5 required pharmacology hours must address opioid prescribing, pain management, or substance use disorder (NH opioid-prescribing CE rules); plus the federal one-time 8-hour DEA MATE Act training.

Good to know

Nur 401.03 text verified: '30 educational contact hours to satisfy the requirements of RN continuing competence and an additional 30 hours, 5 of which shall be education in pharmacology.' The 3-of-5-hours opioid/pain-management condition for DEA-registered prescribers comes from vendor/board summaries of NH's opioid CE rules (Nur 400/RSA 326-B framework) rather than the 401.03 text itself — treat that sub-detail as medium confidence. Vendors sometimes describe specialty distribution (20 of 30 in specialty area) that no longer appears in the current 401.03 text.

Official sources