Georgia Nurse Practitioner CE Requirements

Renewal cycle

2 years (biennial); RN/APRN licenses expire January 31 of even-numbered years

Total CE hours

APRN renewal = RN license renewal + APRN authorization renewal. Continuing competency (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 410-13-.01, verified on official rules.sos.ga.gov): choose ONE of five options, of which 30 CE hours from a Board-approved provider is one; maintenance of national certification (which all Georgia APRNs must hold anyway) is another and is how most APRNs comply. So there is no absolute 30-hour requirement for an APRN who maintains national certification. APRN authorization renewal (Rule 410-11-.03(6), verified) requires renewing the RN license, application, attestation, and fee — no additional CE hours specified.

Pharmacology CE

No fixed state-mandated pharmacology CE hour count in the official Board of Nursing rules (I read chapters 410-11 and 410-13 — no pharm-hour requirement appears; vendor claims of '5 hours pharmacology for prescriptive authority' could not be found in any official Georgia rule and should be treated as unverified). However, APRNs prescribing under a nurse protocol agreement must receive pharmacology training appropriate to the delegating physician's scope of practice AT LEAST ANNUALLY — the delegating physician must ensure and document this (Georgia Composite Medical Board Rule 360-32-.05, updated rules effective May 25, 2026). No specific hour count is attached.

Controlled-substance CE

1 hour of CE biennially in the appropriate ordering and use of hydrocodone, oxycodone, and compounds thereof, required for APRNs authorized under their nurse protocol agreement to issue emergency prescriptions for those Schedule II drugs (O.C.G.A. §43-34-25(d.1), enacted by HB 557 — confirmed in the official Georgia Composite Medical Board APRN information summary PDF and CMB Rule 360-32). Also biennial CE on death-certificate documentation if that delegation is in the protocol (HB 1046). Federal DEA MATE 8-hour one-time training applies to DEA registrants.

Good to know

Georgia splits oversight: Board of Nursing licenses APRNs; the Composite Medical Board reviews nurse protocol agreements that confer prescriptive authority (physician-delegated model — Georgia has no independent APRN prescribing). For a PMHNP: national certification maintenance (e.g. ANCC PMHNP-BC) satisfies the continuing-competency requirement; the annual pharmacology training obligation runs through the delegating physician with no set hour count; the 1-hour hydrocodone/oxycodone CE applies only if the protocol includes emergency Schedule II authority. CMB rules under chapter 360-32 were updated effective May 25, 2026 — recent change.

Official sources