Nursing Continuing Education (CE) Requirements by State (2026)
Registered Nurses provide direct patient care in hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare settings. Most states require RNs to complete continuing education for license renewal, though several have no mandatory CE-hour requirement. Compare requirements across all states below.
Each figure below is checked against its cited source — the official state licensing board where available — and recorded with the exact source excerpt on the state's page. How we compile & verify this data →
National Overview
Across the 50 states covered here, 40 require nursing continuing education to renew a license, 9 have no mandatory CE-hour requirement, and 1 applies conditional rules. Among the states that do mandate CE, totals range from 2 to 36 hours per cycle (averaging about 23), and most run on a 2-year cycle.
Online CE is accepted in every state that requires it, though several cap self-study or independent-study hours. The national coordinating body is NCSBN. Use the table below to compare each state's hours, cycle, and mandatory topics.
All States Comparison
| State | Hours | Cycle | Online? | Key Topics | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 24 | 2 yr | Yes | Nurse Practice Act | View → |
| Alaska | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | Continuing education content areas | View → |
| Arizona | None | — | — | — | View → |
| Arkansas | 15 | 2 yr | Yes | Practice-focused continuing education | View → |
| California | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | Implicit Bias, Gerontology / Dementia Care | View → |
| Colorado | None | — | — | — | View → |
| Connecticut | 2 | 6 yr | Yes | PTSD, Suicide Risk, Depression & Grief Screening and Suicide Prevention | View → |
| Delaware | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | Substance Abuse, Abuse Recognition and Reporting | View → |
| Florida | 24 | 2 yr | Yes | Prevention of Medical Errors, Florida Laws and Rules | View → |
| Georgia | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Hawaii | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Idaho | 15 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Illinois | 20 | 2 yr | Yes | Sexual Harassment Prevention Training, Implicit Bias Awareness Training | View → |
| Indiana | None | — | — | — | View → |
| Iowa | 36 | 3 yr | Yes | Identification and Reporting of Child and Dependent Adult Abuse | View → |
| Kansas | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Kentucky | 14 | 1 yr | Yes | Domestic Violence, Alzheimer's Disease or Dementia | View → |
| Louisiana | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Maine | None | — | — | — | View → |
| Maryland | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | Implicit Bias and Racism Training | View → |
| Massachusetts | 15 | 2 yr | Yes | Domestic and Sexual Violence Training, Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Care | View → |
| Michigan | 25 | 2 yr | Yes | Pain and Pain Symptom Management, Human Trafficking Identification | View → |
| Minnesota | 24 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Mississippi | None | — | — | — | View → |
| Missouri | None | — | — | — | View → |
| Montana | None | — | — | — | View → |
| Nebraska | 20 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Nevada | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | Cultural Competency, Bioterrorism | View → |
| New Hampshire | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| New Jersey | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | Prescription Opioid Drugs, Organ and Tissue Donation and Recovery | View → |
| New Mexico | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| New York | 4 | 3 yr | Yes | Infection Control and Barrier Precautions, Child Abuse and Maltreatment Mandated Reporter Training | View → |
| North Carolina | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| North Dakota | 12 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Ohio | 24 | 2 yr | Yes | Ohio Nurse Practice Act / Laws and Rules (Category A) | View → |
| Oklahoma | 24 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Oregon | 3 | 2 yr | Yes | Pain Management, Cultural Competency | View → |
| Pennsylvania | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | Child Abuse Recognition and Reporting, Organ and Tissue Donation and Recovery Process | View → |
| Rhode Island | 10 | 2 yr | Yes | Substance Abuse, Alzheimer's Disease Training | View → |
| South Carolina | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| South Dakota | None | — | — | — | View → |
| Tennessee | Varies | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Texas | 20 | 2 yr | Yes | Nursing Jurisprudence and Nursing Ethics, Forensic Evidence Collection | View → |
| Utah | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Vermont | 20 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Virginia | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |
| Washington | 8 | 1 yr | Yes | Health Equity, Suicide Prevention Training | View → |
| West Virginia | 12 | 2 yr | Yes | Safe Prescribing and Drug Diversion | View → |
| Wisconsin | None | — | — | — | View → |
| Wyoming | 30 | 2 yr | Yes | — | View → |