Renewal Requirements

Thank you for your interest in Recertification with AANPCB. Certificants are encouraged to apply online. A paper application is available for certificants who prefer this method.

Certification is "time limited". Minimum requirements for renewal of certification must be met within the 5-year period of certification in order to renew certification. For detailed information, refer to the Recertification Handbook [2MB .pdf].

There are two options for certification renewal.

Option 1: Recertify by Practice Hours and Continuing Education (CE)

• Minimum of 1,000 practice hours as an NP in the population focus of certification performing one or more roles of: direct patient care provider, administrator, educator, and/or researcher. Practice must be during the 5-year certification period.
• Direct patient care duties can include direct patient care and faculty clinical supervision of NP students. Telehealth and volunteer practice are included. Student clinical practicum hours in an advanced practice program (i.e., DNP) do not qualify as NP practice hours for recertification purposes.
• Administrative duties involve overseeing and interacting with advanced practice providers and/or faculty.
• Education includes clinical supervision and/or didactic teaching in an NP program or providing education to advanced practice providers in other settings.
• Research must be outcomes related and patient driven. Activities include QI, evidence-based science, and practice innovation.
• Minimum 100 contact hours of advanced CE
• Pharmacology CEs are required - 25 credits of the 100 CEs must be advanced practice pharmacology that are completed within the 5-year certification period.
• Precepting is an optional criterion that can be used to replace up to 25 non-pharmacology CE credits. Precepting is defined as serving as a clinical preceptor for interdisciplinary advanced health care student(s) while providing direct patient care as a nurse practitioner in your area of certification. To convert clinical preceptor hours to CE contact hours, see the Conversion Table in the Recertification Handbook. A maximum of 120 preceptor hours may replace 25 non-pharmacology CE credits.
• Hold current RN or APRN licensure during the period of certification.

Option 2: Recertify by Examination

• Take the AGNP, ENP, FNP, or PMHNP National Certification Examination. (Due to examination retirement, this is not an available option for ANP or GNP Certifications).
• Hold current RN licensure during the period of certification.

When you are ready to recertify, proceed to our homepage and scroll down until you see the "Recertify Now" button. You will be prompted to login to your online profile, and will then proceed to the online application. Paper applications are also available under "Forms" on the navigation bar, and include a built-in processing fee of $50 per submission.