Hawaii Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

Hawaii nurse anesthetists must complete 30 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Hawaii Board of Nursing (Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division). Hawaii does not issue a standalone nurse anesthetist credential. A nurse anesthetist holds a registered nurse license plus an advanced practice registered nurse license in one of the four recognized APRN roles under HRS 457-8.5. HRS 457-9(a) states that the license of every person licensed or granted prescriptive authority expires on June 30 of every odd-numbered year and is renewed biennially; the current licensing period runs July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027, and on time renewals were accepted from April 21 to June 30, 2025. An APRN license cannot be renewed unless the RN license is renewed. Restoration windows differ by license: a forfeited RN or LPN license may be restored within two years, but a forfeited APRN license may be restored only within six months of expiration, after which the nurse must apply as a new applicant. Hawaii also mandates specific subjects. Pharmacology: 8 contact hours every renewal cycle (APRNs with prescriptive authority, which under HRS 457-8.6 can include a nurse anesthetist qualified for it).

Hawaii Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist 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.

Read the scope before the number. Hawaii's 30 hour figure applies only to an advanced practice registered nurse who holds prescriptive authority. The board sets out three renewal paths: an APRN initially licensed by graduate level nursing degree submits only the renewal application and fees; an APRN initially licensed by national certification only submits the application, fees and proof of current certification; and an APRN with prescriptive authority submits renewal of both the RN and APRN licenses, proof of current national certification in the practice specialty, and proof of completion of at least 30 hours of continuing education of which at least eight hours must be in pharmacology. A nurse anesthetist without prescriptive authority therefore owes no advanced practice hours. This is the shared APRN rule and reaches nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists and clinical nurse specialists as well as nurse practitioners; HRS 457-8.6 makes prescriptive authority available to any qualified APRN, only as appropriate to the practice specialty in which the nurse is qualified, and writes no nurse anesthetist exclusion, so whether the hours reach a given nurse anesthetist turns on whether that nurse holds the authority. The base layer, the continuing competency requirement that HRS 457-9.2 places on every registered nurse and practical nurse since July 1, 2017, will usually not bind a nurse anesthetist either: 457-9.2(b)(1) exempts a registered nurse who also maintains an active advanced practice registered nurse license and a current national certification approved by the board. Because HRS 457-8.5(a)(6) requires the APRN to maintain continued competencies through recertification in a board recognized national certification program, a nurse anesthetist keeping NBCRNA certification current normally falls inside that exemption. Hawaii accepts the recertification rather than adopting the NBCRNA credit totals as a state figure. The learning activity options for nurses who are not exempt are set out in the board's Continuing Competency Manual, which is published only as a PDF and was not read, so no hour figure is recorded for the base layer.

Required CE topics for Hawaii certified registered nurse anesthetists

State-specific subject mandates. Where a mandate applies only to some licensees, the scope is listed.

Documentation and audit

Common questions

How many CE hours does a Hawaii CRNA need to renew?

Hawaii nurse anesthetists must complete 30 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Hawaii Board of Nursing (Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division). Read the scope before the number. Hawaii's 30 hour figure applies only to an advanced practice registered nurse who holds prescriptive authority. The board sets out three renewal paths: an APRN initially licensed by graduate level nursing degree submits only the renewal application and fees; an APRN initially licensed by national certification only submits the application, fees and proof of current certification; and an APRN with prescriptive authority submits renewal of both the RN and APRN licenses, proof of current national certification in the practice specialty, and proof of completion of at least 30 hours of continuing education of which at least eight hours must be in pharmacology. A nurse anesthetist without prescriptive authority therefore owes no advanced practice hours. This is the shared APRN rule and reaches nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists and clinical nurse specialists as well as nurse practitioners; HRS 457-8.6 makes prescriptive authority available to any qualified APRN, only as appropriate to the practice specialty in which the nurse is qualified, and writes no nurse anesthetist exclusion, so whether the hours reach a given nurse anesthetist turns on whether that nurse holds the authority. The base layer, the continuing competency requirement that HRS 457-9.2 places on every registered nurse and practical nurse since July 1, 2017, will usually not bind a nurse anesthetist either: 457-9.2(b)(1) exempts a registered nurse who also maintains an active advanced practice registered nurse license and a current national certification approved by the board. Because HRS 457-8.5(a)(6) requires the APRN to maintain continued competencies through recertification in a board recognized national certification program, a nurse anesthetist keeping NBCRNA certification current normally falls inside that exemption. Hawaii accepts the recertification rather than adopting the NBCRNA credit totals as a state figure. The learning activity options for nurses who are not exempt are set out in the board's Continuing Competency Manual, which is published only as a PDF and was not read, so no hour figure is recorded for the base layer.

How often does a Hawaii CRNA license need to be renewed?

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist licenses in Hawaii renew every two years. Hawaii does not issue a standalone nurse anesthetist credential. A nurse anesthetist holds a registered nurse license plus an advanced practice registered nurse license in one of the four recognized APRN roles under HRS 457-8.5. HRS 457-9(a) states that the license of every person licensed or granted prescriptive authority expires on June 30 of every odd-numbered year and is renewed biennially; the current licensing period runs July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027, and on time renewals were accepted from April 21 to June 30, 2025. An APRN license cannot be renewed unless the RN license is renewed. Restoration windows differ by license: a forfeited RN or LPN license may be restored within two years, but a forfeited APRN license may be restored only within six months of expiration, after which the nurse must apply as a new applicant.

What specific CE topics are required for Hawaii nurse anesthetists?

Pharmacology: 8 contact hours every renewal cycle (APRNs with prescriptive authority, which under HRS 457-8.6 can include a nurse anesthetist qualified for it).

Do Hawaii nurse anesthetists have to submit CE certificates at renewal?

Proof of completion must be submitted with the renewal, the board audits a sample of renewals and asks for documentation, and records must be kept for 4 years. The board states that an APRN with prescriptive authority submits proof of current national certification and proof of completion of the hours with the renewal. For the registered nurse continuing competency requirement, HRS 457-9.2 requires the licensee to keep records for the past four years or two previous bienniums, to attest to completion at renewal, and to produce documentation within 60 days if selected for a board audit.

Sources

Last verified September 8, 2026. Every value above was read from one of these.

• Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Renewal Requirements, Hawaii Board of NursingState board page, accessed September 8, 2026
• Board of Nursing, Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer AffairsState board page, accessed September 8, 2026
• HRS 457-9, Renewal of license; inactivation and reactivation; restorationStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 8, 2026
• HRS 457-9.2, Continuing competency requirements; exemptions; extensions; records retention; auditStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 8, 2026
• HRS 457-8.5, Advanced practice registered nurse; qualifications; licensure; endorsement; fees; eligibilityStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 8, 2026
• HRS 457-8.6, Prescriptive authority for advanced practice registered nursesStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 8, 2026

Both cca.hawaii.gov and capitol.hawaii.gov return 403 to automated clients, so all pages were read in a rendered browser; both are official hosts. The 30 hour and eight hour pharmacology figures, the three renewal paths and the six month APRN restoration window were read on the board's own APRN renewal page and homepage; the June 30 odd year expiration, the continuing competency exemption for APRNs with current national certification, the four year record retention, the audit process and the prescriptive authority provisions were read in the Hawaii Revised Statutes on the legislature's own site. The repository's link exceptions file already covers the two cca.hawaii.gov URLs cited here; the three capitol.hawaii.gov HRS chapter 457 URLs are new and will need entries before the online link check passes. Hawaii does not issue a distinct CRNA credential: HRS 457-8.5(a)(4) grants a single advanced practice registered nurse license to a nurse who completed a graduate program preparing the nurse for one of the four recognized APRN roles, so this record covers the APRN license held in the nurse anesthetist role. Compared with the Hawaii nurse practitioner record the requirement is identical, because the renewal rule is shared across roles and neither the statute nor the board page carves the nurse anesthetist in or out. The important qualifier for this role is that Hawaii scopes its only hour count to prescriptive authority, and a nurse anesthetist who does not hold that authority owes no advanced practice hours and is separately exempt from the registered nurse continuing competency requirement while maintaining current national certification. Topic key pharmacology is not in the canonical list. The board's Continuing Competency Manual, which carries the learning activity options for nurses who are not exempt, is a PDF the no download rule excludes and is listed in the report. Carryover and any approved provider rule were not stated in the sources read.