This guide covers what certification is, why it matters, the renewal requirements for both boards, and what happens if your certification expires.
Licensure Versus Certification
These are two different things. Before you can practice as an NP, you need a license from your state board of nursing. That is a legal requirement, and you renew it on your state's schedule, often every two years, though it varies.
Certification is separate. The ANCC defines it as the process by which a nongovernmental agency grants recognition to someone who has met predetermined qualifications. It reflects the additional education tied to your role and specialty. Board certification validates your competency and supports continued licensure, reimbursement, and employer recognition. NPs renew certification every five years.
The Two Certifying Boards
The AANPCB is a nonprofit certification program that credentials adult NPs, adult-gerontology primary care NPs, emergency NPs, family NPs, and gerontologic NPs.
The ANCC, part of the American Nurses Association, is the largest certification body for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and certifies psychiatric mental health NPs, among others.
When you first sit for boards as a new NP, you choose one or the other. Taking both is not recommended.
How to Renew Before Your Certification Expires
The steps are the same regardless of board. Visit your credentialing website for current requirements and updates, read the renewal handbook closely, gather your documents, and use the board's contact information if you have questions. Both boards let you recertify up to 12 months before your due date.
AANPCB Renewal Requirements
For family NP and adult-gerontology primary care NP recertification, you have two options. (For adult, gerontologic, and emergency NP recertification, check the AANPCB Recertification Handbook.)
Option one, by practice hours and continuing education, requires everything completed within the current five-year certification period and a current U.S. or Canadian professional nursing license:
- Practice hours: a minimum of 1,000 hours as an NP in your population focus during the five-year period, in direct patient care, administration, education, or research.
- Continuing education: 100 advanced practice CE contact hours, of which at least 25 must be advanced pharmacology.
- Advanced life support courses (ABLS, ACLS, ALSO, ATLS, NRP, PALS) are accepted but not required. Basic life support is not accepted.
- Preceptor hours are optional. Up to 120 hours precepting an advanced practice student convert to a maximum of 25 non-pharmacology CE credits.
Option two, by examination, requires passing the appropriate certification exam before your current certification expires, with a current nursing license. Allow about 120 days for processing, scheduling, and a possible retake. You may test only twice per calendar year.
ANCC Renewal Requirements
For all participating APRN recertification, you need a current, active RN license, 75 continuing education hours, and completion of at least one of the following categories:
- Continuing education: 75 CE hours in your certification specialty.
- Academic credits: five semester or six quarter credits in your specialty.
- Presentations: one or more totaling five clock hours in your specialty.
- Evidence-based practice or quality improvement: one completed project using a problem-solving approach.
- Publication or research: one peer-reviewed article or book chapter, five articles in a non-peer-reviewed journal, or an IRB research project, dissertation, thesis, or doctoral project in your specialty.
- Preceptor hours: a minimum of 120 hours precepting students in an academic program, or supervising clinicians in a fellowship, residency, or internship related to your RN or APRN specialty.
- Professional service: two or more consecutive years of volunteer service during your certification period with a healthcare-related organization, such as boards, committees, editorial or review boards, task forces, or medical missions.
- Practice hours: a minimum of 1,000 hours in your specialty within the five years before your renewal submission. Practice hours are not required to renew.
- Test: sit for and pass the current exam, unless your certification is listed as renewal only.
If Your Certification Expires
It is your responsibility to renew on time. If you miss it, both boards have rules.
Under the AANPCB, extensions beyond five years are not granted. Once your certification expires, you cannot present yourself as AANPCB-certified or use the NP-C credential, and you cannot renew online. You must email the board to submit an expired-certification application, which requires a paper application, an added processing fee, and all CE and practice requirements. Contact your state board of nursing about whether you can work in the meantime. Once staff review your renewal, the certification reactivates.
Under the ANCC, a lapsed APRN cannot present credentials as ANCC-certified. If your certification expired within the past two years, you can reactivate it. If it expired more than two years ago and the same exam is still offered, you reactivate by submitting an application, completing the mandatory 75 CE hours, retaking and passing the exam in the same role and population or specialty, and paying all fees.
Both boards let you upload and track your CE through an online account once you create one.
Retired Nurse Practitioners
AANPCB certifications tied to a retired license number automatically expire five years after certification. NPs ready to retire should submit AANPCB's certification status change request form by email, fax, or mail. AANPCB has no retired credential.
The ANCC does not allow renewal or reactivation with a retired exam or portfolio assessment, and certifications more than two years past expiration cannot be reactivated. The ANCC does offer a retired certified nurse recognition program.
State boards set their own rules, so do not assume yours matches another state's. Some states let NPs practice without certification, but renewing shows a commitment to ongoing learning, to your employer, and to your patients.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often do nurse practitioners renew certification? Every five years for both the AANPCB and the ANCC. Your state RN or APRN license is separate and renews on your state's schedule, often every two years.
How many practice hours does AANPCB require? A minimum of 1,000 NP practice hours in your population focus during the five-year period, plus 100 advanced practice continuing education hours, of which at least 25 must be advanced pharmacology (AANPCB).
How many continuing education hours does ANCC require? 75 CE hours plus completion of at least one of eight professional development categories. NPs with prescriptive authority must include at least 25 pharmacology hours within those (ANCC).
Can I recertify early? Yes. Both boards let you start the process up to 12 months before your due date.
What happens if my certification lapses? You cannot use the credential or present yourself as certified, and you may lose the right to practice in your state. The AANPCB requires a paper expired-certification application plus an added fee; the ANCC lets you reactivate within two years, or retake the exam if it expired longer ago.
Should I hold both AANPCB and ANCC certification? No. You choose one board when you first sit for boards, and taking both is not recommended.