Hawaii Nurse Practitioner license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

Hawaii nurse practitioners 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 nurse licenses, including the APRN license, renew by June 30 of every odd numbered year. 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).

Hawaii Nurse Practitioner 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.

Hawaii layers the requirement and scopes the hour count to prescribers. The base layer is the continuing competency requirement that applies to every Hawaii nurse licensee since July 1, 2017 under HRS 457-9 and 457-9.2(a) and (e): the nurse completes one of several learning activity options before renewing, and the options are set out in the board's Continuing Competency Manual. That manual is published only as a PDF and was not read, so no hour figure is recorded for the base layer. The 30 hours recorded here is the advanced practice layer. An APRN with prescriptive authority must submit, in addition to renewing 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. An APRN without prescriptive authority owes no advanced practice hours: one initially licensed by graduate level nursing degree submits only the renewal application and fees, and one initially licensed by national certification only submits the application, fees and proof of current certification.

Required CE topics for Hawaii nurse practitioners

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 NP need to renew?

Hawaii nurse practitioners 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 layers the requirement and scopes the hour count to prescribers. The base layer is the continuing competency requirement that applies to every Hawaii nurse licensee since July 1, 2017 under HRS 457-9 and 457-9.2(a) and (e): the nurse completes one of several learning activity options before renewing, and the options are set out in the board's Continuing Competency Manual. That manual is published only as a PDF and was not read, so no hour figure is recorded for the base layer. The 30 hours recorded here is the advanced practice layer. An APRN with prescriptive authority must submit, in addition to renewing 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. An APRN without prescriptive authority owes no advanced practice hours: one initially licensed by graduate level nursing degree submits only the renewal application and fees, and one initially licensed by national certification only submits the application, fees and proof of current certification.

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

Nurse Practitioner licenses in Hawaii renew every two years. Hawaii nurse licenses, including the APRN license, renew by June 30 of every odd numbered year. 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 practitioners?

Pharmacology: 8 contact hours every renewal cycle (APRNs with prescriptive authority).

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

Proof of completion must be submitted with the renewal and the board audits a sample of renewals and asks for documentation. 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. The board may conduct a random audit to determine whether the continuing competency requirements have been met.

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
• Continuing Competency Requirement, Hawaii Board of NursingState board page, accessed September 8, 2026

The cca.hawaii.gov host returns 403 to automated clients, so all three pages were read in a rendered browser rather than fetched. The 30 hour and eight hour pharmacology figures, the national certification requirement, the June 30 odd year renewal, and the six month APRN restoration window were all read on the board's own pages. Topic key pharmacology is not in the canonical list. The base continuing competency requirement that a nurse practitioner also owes through the RN license is real but its options and hour figures live in the board's Continuing Competency Manual, a PDF the no download rule excludes; that manual is listed in this report so a person can open it. This is the shared APRN rule and reaches nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists and clinical nurse specialists as well as nurse practitioners. Retention period, carryover and approved provider rules were not stated on the pages read.