Nebraska Certified Nurse-Midwife license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

Nebraska nurse-midwives must complete 20 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Licensure Unit (Board of Nursing, under the Certified Nurse Midwifery Practice Act and the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Practice Act). Nebraska licenses the certified nurse midwife as an APRN-CNM under the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Practice Act, with its own statutory chapter, the Certified Nurse Midwifery Practice Act at Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-601 to 38-618. APRN licenses expire on October 31 of each even numbered year, the same date the registered nurse license expires, and renewal is a two year cycle. To renew, the nurse submits a renewal application online through the state licensing portal or on paper, attests to having met the continued competency requirements, and pays the renewal fee. Every APRN must hold a current Nebraska registered nurse license or a multistate compact registered nurse license in their primary state of residence. For the APRN-CNM specifically the department lists two further renewal conditions: current national certification from the American Midwifery Certification Board, and the 2020 to 2028 mandatory opiate prescribing continuing education requirement. The 2,080 hour practice requirement that the department lists for renewal applies only to the nurse practitioner, not to the nurse midwife. Prescriptive authority is granted to certified nurse midwives at the time of licensure in Nebraska, with no additional application or permit. Nebraska also mandates specific subjects. Continuing education regarding prescribing opiates: 3 contact hours every renewal cycle (A nurse midwife who prescribes controlled substances. The statute names the nurse midwife expressly, alongside the dentist, physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, podiatrist and veterinarian who prescribes controlled substances). The first renewal is exempt.

Nebraska 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.

Nebraska layers two requirements on a nurse midwife, and they work differently from one another. The base requirement sits on the registered nurse license: to renew, a registered nurse must meet one of six continued competency routes, of which the continuing education route is 500 hours of nursing practice during the past five years plus at least 20 contact hours of nursing continuing education from an approved provider within the past two years. The 20 hours is recorded as the cycle figure because it is the continuing education route, and it matches the state's registered nurse, nurse practitioner and nurse anesthetist records, but a nurse midwife who instead maintains national specialty certification, keeps a portfolio, completes a refresher course or graduated within the last two years satisfies that base requirement with no hour count at all. All of the 20 hours may be completed by home study or internet course, so there is no cap on self study or online delivery. On top of that base sits a genuine stacked advanced practice requirement that certification does not satisfy: Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-145(6) names the nurse midwife expressly and requires at least three hours of continuing education biennially on prescribing opiates for a nurse midwife who prescribes controlled substances, with one half hour of the three covering the prescription drug monitoring program. Nebraska grants prescriptive authority to certified nurse midwives at the time of licensure, so in practice that condition reaches most of them. The department lists the opiate requirement as a renewal condition for the APRN-CNM alongside current AMCB certification. AMCB certification is therefore a renewal condition in its own right, and it can also satisfy the registered nurse level continued competency requirement through the nursing specialty certification route, but it cannot satisfy the three opiate hours. The AMCB Certificate Maintenance Program totals are not adopted as state hours. A nurse who received the registered nurse license within the past 24 months is waived from the continuing education requirement; nothing read states that this waiver reaches the opiate prescribing hours.

Required CE topics for Nebraska certified nurse-midwifes

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 Nebraska CNM need to renew?

Nebraska nurse-midwives must complete 20 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Licensure Unit (Board of Nursing, under the Certified Nurse Midwifery Practice Act and the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Practice Act). Nebraska layers two requirements on a nurse midwife, and they work differently from one another. The base requirement sits on the registered nurse license: to renew, a registered nurse must meet one of six continued competency routes, of which the continuing education route is 500 hours of nursing practice during the past five years plus at least 20 contact hours of nursing continuing education from an approved provider within the past two years. The 20 hours is recorded as the cycle figure because it is the continuing education route, and it matches the state's registered nurse, nurse practitioner and nurse anesthetist records, but a nurse midwife who instead maintains national specialty certification, keeps a portfolio, completes a refresher course or graduated within the last two years satisfies that base requirement with no hour count at all. All of the 20 hours may be completed by home study or internet course, so there is no cap on self study or online delivery. On top of that base sits a genuine stacked advanced practice requirement that certification does not satisfy: Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-145(6) names the nurse midwife expressly and requires at least three hours of continuing education biennially on prescribing opiates for a nurse midwife who prescribes controlled substances, with one half hour of the three covering the prescription drug monitoring program. Nebraska grants prescriptive authority to certified nurse midwives at the time of licensure, so in practice that condition reaches most of them. The department lists the opiate requirement as a renewal condition for the APRN-CNM alongside current AMCB certification. AMCB certification is therefore a renewal condition in its own right, and it can also satisfy the registered nurse level continued competency requirement through the nursing specialty certification route, but it cannot satisfy the three opiate hours. The AMCB Certificate Maintenance Program totals are not adopted as state hours. A nurse who received the registered nurse license within the past 24 months is waived from the continuing education requirement; nothing read states that this waiver reaches the opiate prescribing hours.

How often does a Nebraska CNM license need to be renewed?

Certified Nurse-Midwife licenses in Nebraska renew every two years. Nebraska licenses the certified nurse midwife as an APRN-CNM under the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Practice Act, with its own statutory chapter, the Certified Nurse Midwifery Practice Act at Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-601 to 38-618. APRN licenses expire on October 31 of each even numbered year, the same date the registered nurse license expires, and renewal is a two year cycle. To renew, the nurse submits a renewal application online through the state licensing portal or on paper, attests to having met the continued competency requirements, and pays the renewal fee. Every APRN must hold a current Nebraska registered nurse license or a multistate compact registered nurse license in their primary state of residence. For the APRN-CNM specifically the department lists two further renewal conditions: current national certification from the American Midwifery Certification Board, and the 2020 to 2028 mandatory opiate prescribing continuing education requirement. The 2,080 hour practice requirement that the department lists for renewal applies only to the nurse practitioner, not to the nurse midwife. Prescriptive authority is granted to certified nurse midwives at the time of licensure in Nebraska, with no additional application or permit.

What specific CE topics are required for Nebraska nurse-midwives?

Continuing education regarding prescribing opiates: 3 contact hours every renewal cycle (A nurse midwife who prescribes controlled substances. The statute names the nurse midwife expressly, alongside the dentist, physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, podiatrist and veterinarian who prescribes controlled substances). Citations: continuing education regarding prescribing opiates (Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-145(6)).

Do Nebraska nurse-midwives have to submit CE certificates at renewal?

Licensees attest to completion at renewal rather than submitting certificates and the board audits a sample of renewals and asks for documentation. Continuing education counted toward the registered nurse continued competency route must come from an approved provider of nursing continuing education, and the department points licensees to the Nebraska State Board of Nursing advisory opinion on nursing continuing education for what qualifies. Nothing is sent with the renewal: the department states that practice records and continuing education certificates are not submitted, that the nurse attests to having met the requirements, and that after the renewal period a percentage of licensees are selected at random for audit and must then send documentation verifying that they met the continued competency requirements. The department explains how to date the window: use the expiration date as the target and count back either two or five years, so the period starts November 1 of the corresponding year. The pages read state no record retention period, so that field is left null.

Is the first Nebraska CNM renewal exempt from CE?

Yes. Nebraska does not require continuing education for a CNM's first renewal.

Sources

Last verified September 10, 2026. Every value above was read from one of these.

• Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-601, Certified Nurse Midwifery Practice Act, how citedStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-606, certified nurse midwife, definedStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-611, certified nurse midwife, authorized activitiesStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-615, licensure as nurse midwife, application, requirements, temporary licensureStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-145, continuing competency requirements, including subsection (6) opiate prescribing hours naming the nurse midwifeStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Nebraska Revised Statutes chapter 38, Uniform Credentialing Act, section listStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Nurse Licensing Renewal and Continuing Education, Nebraska DHHS (APRN October 31 even year expiration, APRN-CNM renewal conditions, registered nurse continued competency routes and waivers)State board page, accessed September 10, 2026
• Nurse Licensing FAQs, Nebraska DHHS (no documents submitted with renewal, random post renewal audit, how to date the renewal window)State board page, accessed September 10, 2026
• Nurse Licensing, Nebraska DHHS (license types including APRN-CNM, prescriptive authority granted at licensure)State board page, accessed September 10, 2026

Nebraska is one of the more interesting regulators in this set. The credential is issued by the Board of Nursing through the DHHS Licensure Unit, so it follows the common pattern, but the nurse midwife has a statutory chapter of its own, the Certified Nurse Midwifery Practice Act at Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-601 to 38-618, running alongside the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Practice Act. That the rules read govern the nurse midwife rather than another kind of midwife was established from the statute: 38-606 defines certified nurse midwife as a person certified by a board approved certifying body and licensed under the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Practice Act, and 38-615 requires the applicant to hold a Nebraska registered nurse license or a compact privilege, to have completed an approved certified nurse midwifery education program, and to be certified as a nurse midwife by a board approved certifying body. The department names AMCB as the certifying body for the APRN-CNM on its own renewal page. AMCB certification plays both roles here: it is a renewal condition, and it can also stand in for the registered nurse level continued competency requirement through the nursing specialty certification route, but it does not satisfy the three opiate prescribing hours. Its own Certificate Maintenance Program totals are not recorded. Continuing education layering in Nebraska is genuinely stacked rather than replaced or parallel: the advanced practice opiate hours sit on top of whichever continued competency route the nurse uses for the registered nurse license. Scope was checked rather than inherited. Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-145(6) names the nurse midwife by name, which is stronger than the usual prescriber carve out, though it still conditions the duty on prescribing controlled substances; Nebraska grants prescriptive authority to certified nurse midwives at licensure with no separate application, so the condition is usually met. The 2,080 hour practice requirement listed on the renewal page is scoped to the nurse practitioner and does not reach the nurse midwife, and the alternative competency assessment path is scoped to the clinical nurse specialist. No other subject mandate was found. One timing point is worth flagging for a future refresh rather than a reader advisory: Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-145(6) states that the subsection terminates on January 1, 2029, so the opiate hours govern the October 31, 2026 and October 31, 2028 renewals and then lapse unless the Legislature extends them. The department's renewal page already calls it the 2020 to 2028 requirement. Compared with the state's existing nurse anesthetist record, two things differ and both are improvements rather than disagreements: the nurse anesthetist renewal conditions on the department page carry no opiate requirement, which is correct because the nurse anesthetist is not named in 38-145(6), and this record sets audited to true on the strength of the department FAQ, which states plainly that a percentage of licensees are randomly audited after the renewal period, where the existing records left that field null. The Nebraska registered nurse renewal application is published only as a PDF and was not read.