West Virginia Certified Nurse-Midwife license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

West Virginia nurse-midwives must complete 24 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses (West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses). The advanced practice registered nurse license, which is the license a West Virginia nurse-midwife holds, renews every two years in odd numbered years, with the renewal window in the Nurse Portal open May 1 through June 30. Prescriptive authority renews at the same time. The underlying registered nurse license runs on the same May 1 to June 30 window but in even numbered years, so the two renewals alternate. The advanced practice license depends on the registered nurse license: if the West Virginia registered nurse license or the multistate compact license lapses or becomes invalid, the advanced practice license and prescriptive authority lapse automatically regardless of where the odd year advanced practice cycle stands. Once the window closes on a lapsed license, a reinstatement application must be filed in the Nurse Portal. Nurses subscribed to e-Notify receive automated notices 30, 60 and 90 days before the deadline, and the board warns that the automated April 1 notice is system generated because the West Virginia window opens strictly on May 1. West Virginia also mandates specific subjects. Pharmacotherapeutics, advanced pharmacology: 12 contact hours every renewal cycle (all advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse-midwives, whether or not they prescribe). Clinical management: assessment, diagnosis, planning and evaluation: 12 contact hours every renewal cycle (all advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse-midwives). Drug diversion, best-practice prescribing, and opioid antagonist training: a one-time requirement of 3 contact hours (Nurse-midwives who prescribe, administer or dispense controlled substances).

West Virginia 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.

West Virginia runs two clocks that alternate rather than stack. On the advanced practice clock, in odd numbered years, the board requires each advanced practice registered nurse to complete 24 contact hours of continuing education every two years, split exactly in half: 12 hours in pharmacotherapeutics, which the board describes as advanced pharmacology, and 12 hours in clinical management, which the board describes as assessment, diagnosis, planning and evaluation. On the registered nurse clock, in even numbered years, a renewing registered nurse completes 12 contact hours of continuing education from a board approved provider. A nurse-midwife who holds a West Virginia registered nurse license is on both clocks and files in alternating years. The split is what makes the advanced practice figure unusual: there is no free choice of subject inside the 24 hours, because both halves are subject mandated. The board is explicit that a nurse-midwife who is granted a waiver of the drug diversion training must still complete the full 12 hours of pharmacotherapeutics and 12 hours of clinical management. Neither the RN nor the APRN figure is described as replacing the other, and the board states them in separate sections of the same page. National certification is a licensure condition rather than a substitute for hours: the board requires official verification sent directly from a board recognized certifying body confirming active national certification in the applicant's advanced practice role and population focus, and it lists the American Midwifery Certification Board among the approved continuing education providers, so a nurse-midwife's AMCB coursework counts toward the 24 hours as well.

Required CE topics for West Virginia 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 West Virginia CNM need to renew?

West Virginia nurse-midwives must complete 24 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses (West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses). West Virginia runs two clocks that alternate rather than stack. On the advanced practice clock, in odd numbered years, the board requires each advanced practice registered nurse to complete 24 contact hours of continuing education every two years, split exactly in half: 12 hours in pharmacotherapeutics, which the board describes as advanced pharmacology, and 12 hours in clinical management, which the board describes as assessment, diagnosis, planning and evaluation. On the registered nurse clock, in even numbered years, a renewing registered nurse completes 12 contact hours of continuing education from a board approved provider. A nurse-midwife who holds a West Virginia registered nurse license is on both clocks and files in alternating years. The split is what makes the advanced practice figure unusual: there is no free choice of subject inside the 24 hours, because both halves are subject mandated. The board is explicit that a nurse-midwife who is granted a waiver of the drug diversion training must still complete the full 12 hours of pharmacotherapeutics and 12 hours of clinical management. Neither the RN nor the APRN figure is described as replacing the other, and the board states them in separate sections of the same page. National certification is a licensure condition rather than a substitute for hours: the board requires official verification sent directly from a board recognized certifying body confirming active national certification in the applicant's advanced practice role and population focus, and it lists the American Midwifery Certification Board among the approved continuing education providers, so a nurse-midwife's AMCB coursework counts toward the 24 hours as well.

How often does a West Virginia CNM license need to be renewed?

Certified Nurse-Midwife licenses in West Virginia renew every two years. The advanced practice registered nurse license, which is the license a West Virginia nurse-midwife holds, renews every two years in odd numbered years, with the renewal window in the Nurse Portal open May 1 through June 30. Prescriptive authority renews at the same time. The underlying registered nurse license runs on the same May 1 to June 30 window but in even numbered years, so the two renewals alternate. The advanced practice license depends on the registered nurse license: if the West Virginia registered nurse license or the multistate compact license lapses or becomes invalid, the advanced practice license and prescriptive authority lapse automatically regardless of where the odd year advanced practice cycle stands. Once the window closes on a lapsed license, a reinstatement application must be filed in the Nurse Portal. Nurses subscribed to e-Notify receive automated notices 30, 60 and 90 days before the deadline, and the board warns that the automated April 1 notice is system generated because the West Virginia window opens strictly on May 1.

What specific CE topics are required for West Virginia nurse-midwives?

Pharmacotherapeutics, advanced pharmacology: 12 contact hours every renewal cycle (all advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse-midwives, whether or not they prescribe). Clinical management: assessment, diagnosis, planning and evaluation: 12 contact hours every renewal cycle (all advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse-midwives). Drug diversion, best-practice prescribing, and opioid antagonist training: a one-time requirement of 3 contact hours (Nurse-midwives who prescribe, administer or dispense controlled substances). Citations: pharmacotherapeutics, advanced pharmacology (W. Va. Code 30-7-1 et seq. and 19CSR07, as stated on the board's continuing education page), clinical management: assessment, diagnosis, planning and evaluation (W. Va. Code 30-7-1 et seq. and 19CSR07, as stated on the board's continuing education page), and drug diversion, best-practice prescribing, and opioid antagonist training (W. Va. Code 30-7-1 et seq. and 19CSR07, as stated on the board's continuing education page).

Do West Virginia 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 must come from a board approved provider. The board's page names national advanced practice organizations including NPCB, AMCB, ANCC, NCC and PNCB, national and state nursing associations including the ANA, the West Virginia Nurses Association and the AANA, and any state board of nursing in the United States. CE Broker is the board's official tracking partner, it electronically verifies compliance at renewal, and the board tells licensees to keep all completion certificates uploaded because licensees are audited periodically.

Sources

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

• Continuing Education and CE Broker, West Virginia Board of Registered NursesState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
• License and Registration Renewals, West Virginia Board of Registered NursesState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
• RN, APRN and Telehealth Requirements, West Virginia Board of Registered NursesState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
• W. Va. Code 30-7-1, definitions (advanced practice registered nurse includes certified nurse-midwife; board means the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses)Statute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026

West Virginia has a distinct nurse-midwife credential and the regulator question the brief raised has a clear answer: the licensing body is the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses, which now presents itself as the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses, not the separate board that licenses practical nurses. W. Va. Code 30-7-1 settles it twice over: it defines an advanced practice registered nurse as a registered nurse prepared as a certified nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, certified registered nurse anesthetist, or clinical nurse specialist, and it defines board in that article to mean the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses. The board's own requirements page confirms the same, describing APRN initial licensure and prescriptive authority as covering Nurse Practitioners, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Clinical Nurse Specialists and Certified Nurse-Midwives, and citing W. Va. Code 30-7-1 et seq. and 19CSR07. That is also how the rule was established as governing the nurse-midwife rather than another kind of midwife. No other West Virginia midwife credential appeared in the sources read, so nothing from any other midwifery scheme is recorded here. On certification: the board requires official verification sent directly from a board recognized certifying body confirming active national certification in the APRN role and population focus, which for a nurse-midwife is AMCB certification. The board does not state that certification substitutes for state hours, and it does state that AMCB is among the approved continuing education providers, so AMCB is recorded as a licensure condition and as an approved provider rather than as an alternative to hours, and no AMCB Certificate Maintenance Program total is recorded. On the layering question the brief flagged for this state: the clocks alternate. The advanced practice license and prescriptive authority renew May 1 to June 30 in odd numbered years with 24 contact hours, and the registered nurse license renews May 1 to June 30 in even numbered years with 12 contact hours. The board states the two figures in separate sections and does not say either replaces the other, so a nurse-midwife holding a West Virginia registered nurse license owes both on their own years. Two topic keys are not on the canonical list and are flagged here: pharmacology, used as the brief directs for the pharmacotherapeutics half, and clinical_management, used for the other half because no canonical key covers assessment, diagnosis, planning and evaluation; clinical_management matches the key already used in the wv-np record. controlled_substances is used rather than opioid_prescribing because the board writes the requirement as drug diversion, best-practice prescribing and opioid antagonist training rather than as opioid prescribing alone. Compared with the existing West Virginia records: this one agrees with wv-np and wv-crna on the 24 hour biennial total, the odd year cycle and the June 30 deadline, and it agrees with wv-np in recording both halves of the split. wv-crna records only the 12 pharmacotherapeutics hours and omits the 12 clinical management hours that the board's page states for every APRN, which is worth a look by whoever maintains that record. wv-crna also records the three hour requirement under the key opioid_prescribing while wv-np records it under controlled_substances; this record follows wv-np.