Arizona Certified Nurse-Midwife license renewal and CE requirements
Arizona does not require continuing education for CNM license renewal, which happens every four years.
An Arizona nurse-midwife holds a registered nurse license plus a certified nurse midwife certificate issued by the Board of Nursing. The underlying RN license renews every four years on or before April 1 under A.R.S. 32-1642; a late fee applies if renewal is not made by May 1, and the license expires if it is not renewed by August 1. The board's renewal page answers the question for this credential by name: an APRN, CNM, CNS or CRNA certificate expires when the multistate or Arizona RN license expires, or when the national certification expires, whichever occurs first, so the practical deadline for a nurse-midwife can be the AMCB certification date rather than April 1. The APRN certificate is renewed on an application separate from the RN, and the RN license must be renewed first before the link to renew the certificate appears.
Summary
Arizona does not require continuing education for CNM license renewal, which happens every four years. An Arizona nurse-midwife holds a registered nurse license plus a certified nurse midwife certificate issued by the Board of Nursing. The underlying RN license renews every four years on or before April 1 under A.R.S. 32-1642; a late fee applies if renewal is not made by May 1, and the license expires if it is not renewed by August 1. The board's renewal page answers the question for this credential by name: an APRN, CNM, CNS or CRNA certificate expires when the multistate or Arizona RN license expires, or when the national certification expires, whichever occurs first, so the practical deadline for a nurse-midwife can be the AMCB certification date rather than April 1. The APRN certificate is renewed on an application separate from the RN, and the RN license must be renewed first before the link to renew the certificate appears. Arizona also mandates specific subjects. Opioid related, substance use disorder related or addiction related continuing education: 3 hours every renewal cycle (nurse-midwives who hold an active DEA registration). Pharmacology or clinical management of drug therapy in the population focus: a one-time requirement of 45 hours (nurse-midwives applying for prescribing and dispensing authority).
Arizona Certified Nurse-Midwife renewal and continuing education rules
"Not stated" means the board's pages and rules we read do not address it. We do not fill in typical values.
| Renewal cycle | 48-month (48 months) |
|---|---|
| Renewal deadline | Same date for every licensee, 04/01 each cycle |
| Continuing education required | No |
Arizona sets no state continuing education hour count at either layer, so there is nothing for a nurse-midwife's continuing education to stack on, replace or run parallel to. A.R.S. 32-1642 imposes no continuing education for renewal of the registered nurse license, and the board's renewal page lists four conditions for renewing an advanced practice certificate and no hour total: practice as an APRN for 960 hours or more in the past five years, an active Arizona RN license or a current RN license with multistate privileges in another compact state, active national certification, and, for an APRN who holds an active DEA license, a minimum of three hours of opioid related, substance use disorder related or addiction related continuing education under A.R.S. 32-3248.02. In practice the certifying body's recertification cycle rather than a state hour total drives a nurse-midwife's continuing education, and the American Midwifery Certification Board's five year Certificate Maintenance Program runs on its own clock that Arizona does not adopt as a state figure. Ariz. Admin. Code R4-19-506 is the shared advanced practice rule; the 45 contact hours of advanced pharmacology and 45 contact hours in a subject related to the role and population focus that appear in it are a remediation path for a nurse who cannot document the 960 practice hours, not a per cycle requirement, and they come paired with 300 to 1,000 hours of precepted clinical practice. The board's own FAQ points a nurse in that position to R4-19-506 rather than to an annual or cyclical hour count.
Required CE topics for Arizona certified nurse-midwifes
State-specific subject mandates. Where a mandate applies only to some licensees, the scope is listed.
| Topic | Hours | Frequency | Applies to | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opioid related, substance use disorder related or addiction related continuing educationThe statute reaches a health professional who is authorized under Title 32 to prescribe schedule II controlled substances and who holds a valid DEA registration number, or who is authorized to dispense controlled substances, and requires a minimum of three hours each license renewal cycle. Ariz. Admin. Code R4-19-511 authorizes prescribing and dispensing authority for the RNP, CNM and CNS roles, so a nurse-midwife who prescribes controlled substances falls inside the statute; the board's renewal page states the requirement for APRNs holding an active DEA license without carving out any role. Arizona's renewal cycle for the underlying RN license is four years, so this is three hours per four year cycle. | 3 hours | Every renewal | nurse-midwives who hold an active DEA registration | A.R.S. 32-3248.02 |
| Pharmacology or clinical management of drug therapy in the population focusAn applicant for prescribing and dispensing authority submits evidence of a minimum of 45 contact hours of education within the three years immediately preceding the application, in pharmacology or clinical management of drug therapy aligned with the population focus. The rule names RNP, CNM and CNS as the roles eligible for this authority, so it reaches a nurse-midwife. It is an entry requirement rather than a recurring renewal topic, and the rule states no continuing education requirement to maintain the authority once granted. | 45 hours | One time | nurse-midwives applying for prescribing and dispensing authority | Ariz. Admin. Code R4-19-511 |
Documentation and audit
| Proof submitted at renewal | Yes |
|---|---|
| Keep records for | Not stated |
| Board audits compliance | Not stated |
| Approved providers | Official national certification, including issue and expiration dates with the category or specialty, must be sent to the board directly by the credentialing agency. The board's page states no approved provider rule for the three hour opioid course. |
Common questions
- How many CE hours does a Arizona CNM need to renew?
- Arizona does not require continuing education for CNM license renewal, which happens every four years. Arizona sets no state continuing education hour count at either layer, so there is nothing for a nurse-midwife's continuing education to stack on, replace or run parallel to. A.R.S. 32-1642 imposes no continuing education for renewal of the registered nurse license, and the board's renewal page lists four conditions for renewing an advanced practice certificate and no hour total: practice as an APRN for 960 hours or more in the past five years, an active Arizona RN license or a current RN license with multistate privileges in another compact state, active national certification, and, for an APRN who holds an active DEA license, a minimum of three hours of opioid related, substance use disorder related or addiction related continuing education under A.R.S. 32-3248.02. In practice the certifying body's recertification cycle rather than a state hour total drives a nurse-midwife's continuing education, and the American Midwifery Certification Board's five year Certificate Maintenance Program runs on its own clock that Arizona does not adopt as a state figure. Ariz. Admin. Code R4-19-506 is the shared advanced practice rule; the 45 contact hours of advanced pharmacology and 45 contact hours in a subject related to the role and population focus that appear in it are a remediation path for a nurse who cannot document the 960 practice hours, not a per cycle requirement, and they come paired with 300 to 1,000 hours of precepted clinical practice. The board's own FAQ points a nurse in that position to R4-19-506 rather than to an annual or cyclical hour count.
- How often does a Arizona CNM license need to be renewed?
- Certified Nurse-Midwife licenses in Arizona renew every four years. An Arizona nurse-midwife holds a registered nurse license plus a certified nurse midwife certificate issued by the Board of Nursing. The underlying RN license renews every four years on or before April 1 under A.R.S. 32-1642; a late fee applies if renewal is not made by May 1, and the license expires if it is not renewed by August 1. The board's renewal page answers the question for this credential by name: an APRN, CNM, CNS or CRNA certificate expires when the multistate or Arizona RN license expires, or when the national certification expires, whichever occurs first, so the practical deadline for a nurse-midwife can be the AMCB certification date rather than April 1. The APRN certificate is renewed on an application separate from the RN, and the RN license must be renewed first before the link to renew the certificate appears.
- What specific CE topics are required for Arizona nurse-midwives?
- Opioid related, substance use disorder related or addiction related continuing education: 3 hours every renewal cycle (nurse-midwives who hold an active DEA registration). Pharmacology or clinical management of drug therapy in the population focus: a one-time requirement of 45 hours (nurse-midwives applying for prescribing and dispensing authority). Citations: opioid related, substance use disorder related or addiction related continuing education (A.R.S. 32-3248.02) and pharmacology or clinical management of drug therapy in the population focus (Ariz. Admin. Code R4-19-511).
- Do Arizona nurse-midwives have to submit CE certificates at renewal?
- Proof of completion must be submitted with the renewal. Official national certification, including issue and expiration dates with the category or specialty, must be sent to the board directly by the credentialing agency. The board's page states no approved provider rule for the three hour opioid course.
Sources
Last verified September 10, 2026. Every value above was read from one of these.
- Renew your License, Arizona State Board of NursingState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
- A.R.S. 32-1601, Definitions (Nursing), including certified nurse midwifeStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- A.R.S. 32-1642, Renewal of license or registration; failure to renewStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- A.R.S. 32-3248.02, Continuing medical education; opioids; substance use disordersStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- Ariz. Admin. Code R4-19-506, Expiration of APRN Certificate; Practice Requirement; Renewal (Cornell LII mirror)Third-party summary, accessed September 10, 2026
- Ariz. Admin. Code R4-19-511, Prescribing and Dispensing Authority; Prohibited Acts (Cornell LII mirror)Third-party summary, accessed September 10, 2026
- Midwifery Provider Type Definitions, Arizona Department of Health ServicesState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
Arizona has a distinct nurse-midwife credential. A.R.S. 32-1601 defines certified nurse midwife as a registered nurse who is certified by the board and has completed a nurse midwife education program approved or recognized by the board, so the credential is a board issued certificate held on top of an Arizona registered nurse license and not a standalone license. That statutory definition, which begins with the words registered nurse, is how this record was established to govern the nurse-midwife. Arizona separately licenses non-nurse midwives through a different agency: the Arizona Department of Health Services Bureau of Licensing for Professions and Occupations licenses midwives and, since July 2013, requires new applicants to hold the North American Registry of Midwives Certified Professional Midwife credential, with midwives continuously licensed since 1999 grandfathered. Nothing from that program is recorded here. The board pattern is a board of nursing certifying the nurse-midwife as an advanced practice role. The renewal conditions, the 960 practice hour requirement, the national certification requirement, the three hour opioid continuing education for DEA holders, and the statement that the certificate expires when the RN license or the national certification expires, whichever occurs first, were all read on the Arizona State Board of Nursing's own renewal page, which names CNM explicitly in its advanced practice renewal FAQ. That page returns HTTP 403 to a plain automated fetch and was read in a browser tab instead. The four year April 1 renewal cycle and the opioid statute were read on the Arizona Legislature's own site. Ariz. Admin. Code R4-19-506 and R4-19-511 were read through the Cornell LII mirror and cited as third party sources, because the Secretary of State's administrative code host apps.azsos.gov publishes Title 4 Chapter 19 only as a PDF, which the no download rule excludes; both rules corroborate rather than supply the core figures, which came from the board page and the statutes. AMCB certification is a renewal condition, required and verified directly by the credentialing agency, and it does not substitute for state hours because Arizona sets none. CNM continuing education therefore neither stacks on nor replaces nor parallels a registered nurse requirement: there is no registered nurse continuing education requirement in Arizona. Both mandated topics are scoped to prescribing rather than to the role. The difference from the Arizona nurse anesthetist record is real and deliberate: R4-19-511 lists RNP, CNM and CNS as the roles eligible for prescribing and dispensing authority, so the 45 hour pharmacology entry requirement reaches a nurse-midwife, while the az-crna record correctly excludes it because A.R.S. 32-1634.04 limits a nurse anesthetist to medication orders inside perioperative settings. Topic key pharmacology is not in the canonical list. The board did not state carryover, first renewal proration, audit practice or a record retention period, so those fields are null.
Provided for general reference. Requirements change through legislative sessions and rulemaking, so confirm with the Arizona State Board of Nursing before relying on them for a renewal. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.