Louisiana Nurse Practitioner CE Requirements

Renewal cycle

2 years (biennial; LSBN moved RN/APRN licensure from annual to a 2-year cycle)

Total CE hours

APRNs must maintain current national certification in role/population (recertification CE largely satisfies board expectations). For the underlying RN license, licensees meet CE/nursing-practice requirements per LAC 46:XLVII.3333/3335 — e.g., 900 practice hours OR 30 board-approved contact hours during the 2-year period (options based on practice status). The APRN-specific state add-on is the pharmacotherapeutics requirement below.

Pharmacology CE

6 contact hours of pharmacotherapeutics PER YEAR in the APRN's role and population foci for any APRN holding prescriptive authority (LAC 46:XLVII.4513) — i.e., 12 contact hours per biennial renewal period, which is what LSBN's CE audit requests. Pharmacotherapeutics hours must be delineated on the certificate; providers must be board-approved or board-approved national certifying organizations.

Controlled-substance CE

One-time 3 credit hours of CE covering best practices for prescribing controlled dangerous substances, drug diversion training, appropriate treatment for addiction, and treatment of chronic pain, required of every practitioner holding a Louisiana CDS license as a prerequisite to CDS license renewal (La. R.S. 40:978.3, Act 76 of 2017; once completed, satisfied in full). As of 1/1/2025 LSBN directs APRNs to its board-approved course. These 3 hours can also count toward the pharmacotherapeutics hours. Federal 8-hour DEA MATE training also applies.

Good to know

The 6-hours-per-year pharmacotherapeutics rule comes from LAC 46:XLVII.4513 and LSBN's own prescriptive-authority audit documents (12 hours requested per biennial audit); LSBN pages returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch, so numbers were corroborated via the administrative code text and multiple LSBN PDF excerpts rather than a direct page read — hence medium. CDS 3-hour requirement verified in the statute (R.S. 40:978.3). Louisiana requires PMHNP-relevant collaborative practice agreements for prescriptive authority.

Official sources