ANCC renewal requirements fully implemented January 1 2014.
 All renewal applicants will be required to fulfill Category 1 (75 contact hours) as half of their professional
development requirement. The other half may be fulfilled with any professional development category (1-6)
***Family Medicine Review-AMA PRA Category 1 credits qualify as formally approved CE hours
 All advanced practice nurses (nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists) must include at
least 25 contact hours of pharmacotherapeutics to fulfill their Category 1 requirement. If
Category 1 is doubled, then at least 25 of the 150 continuing education hours are required in
pharmacotherapeutics. Important note: If you double Category 1, there is no requirement to double the number of pharmacotherapeutic hours.
***Family Medicine Review-Provides over 15 contact hours of pharmacotherapeutics-See Attached Agenda with
presentations identified ***
Contact Hours: Pharmacotherapeutics
Effective January 1, 2014, ANCC-certified Clinical Nurse Specialists and Nurse Practitioners must complete 25 of 75
required contact hours in pharmacotherapeutics.
These 25 (or 50) pharmacotherapeutic hours do not need to be formally accredited/approved if the certified nurse meets
the requirements for Category 1 contact hours (at least 51% of the total number of contact hours must be in your
certification role and specialty and at least 50% must be formally approved).
If an educational program includes pharmacy content, please refer to equivalency conversions listed below to determine
the number of pharmacotherapeutic hours eligible for re-certification. Align calculation with the agenda or content (e.g.
60 minutes of a 2 hour presentation devoted to pharmacotherapeutics = 1 contact hour).
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1 contact hour = 1 CME or 0.1 CEU or 60 minutes
1 academic semester credit = 15 contact hours
1 CEU = 10 contact hours
1 academic quarter credit = 12.5 contact hours
Submit the presentation or conference agenda to validate the contact hour calculation. A narrative note describing
pharmacology content may also be required. Presenters must possess expertise in pharmacology and are not required to
be a nurse for hours to count towards re-certification. Hours submitted to renew certification may also be submitted to a
State Board of Nursing for re-licensure.
Providers Developing Pharmacotherapeutic Content
Content to meet the pharmacotherapeutic hour requirement must specifically address pharmacotherapeutics. This may
include, but is not limited to, drug specific information, safe-prescribing practices, safe medication administration,
prescribing methodologies, new regulations or similar content. Presenters must possess expertise in pharmacology and
are not required to be a nurse for hours to count towards re-certification.
Delineate the number of pharmacotherapeutic contact hours on the agenda or other marketing materials provided to
learners. Review existing continuing education courses with pharmacotherapeutic content to calculate appropriate
number of contact hours.