Wisconsin Certified Nurse-Midwife license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

Wisconsin nurse-midwives must complete 16 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Wisconsin Board of Nursing (Department of Safety and Professional Services). The credential renews every two years and expires February 28, or February 29 in a leap year, of each even numbered year, the same date as the Wisconsin registered nurse license. The Department states that under Wis. Stat. 440.08(2) the required renewal date for the Nurse Midwife credential is 02/28 or 29 of even years, and that a nurse who receives an initial credential in the months before that date still has to renew on the statutory date. Under Wis. Stat. 441.09(1)(c) the licensee submits, on or before that date, a statement with name and residence, the nursing workforce survey and fee required under 441.01(7), evidence of having satisfied the continuing education requirements under 441.09(4), evidence of any required malpractice liability insurance, any out of hospital birth plan required under 441.09(3m)(f), and current evidence of continuing to satisfy the licensure requirements including the American Midwifery Certification Board certification in 441.09(1)(a)5.a. Renewal also requires holding a current Wisconsin registered nurse license or a multistate registered nurse license from a compact state, and the board renews that registered nurse license at the same time. Wisconsin also mandates specific subjects. Clinical pharmacology or therapeutics relevant to the licensee's area of practice: 16 contact hours every renewal cycle (all advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse-midwives, with no distinction in the statute for whether the licensee prescribes). Responsible prescribing of controlled substances: 2 contact hours every renewal cycle (advanced practice nurse prescribers in the rule's own words; whether it reaches a nurse-midwife whose license carries the no prescribing notation under Wis. Stat. 441.09(1)(b)5 is unsettled after 2025 Act 17, see the advisory).

Wisconsin 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.

Wisconsin puts the whole continuing education burden on the advanced practice credential and none on the registered nurse license, which requires no continuing education at all, so the sixteen hours stand alone with nothing to stack on, replace or run parallel to. Wis. Stat. 441.09(4) states that every advanced practice registered nurse shall submit to the board evidence of having completed at least 16 contact hours per biennium in clinical pharmacology or therapeutics relevant to the advanced practice registered nurse's area of practice, and that the board may promulgate rules on the requirement. The statute draws no distinction by recognized role and none by whether the nurse prescribes, so on its face the sixteen hours reach a nurse-midwife, including one whose license carries the notation under 441.09(1)(b)5 that the licensee may not issue prescription orders. Every one of the sixteen hours is subject mandated, since the statute confines them to clinical pharmacology or therapeutics. The two hour controlled substance subset comes from the administrative rule rather than the statute: Wis. Admin. Code N 8.05(1) requires 16 contact hours per biennium in clinical pharmacology or therapeutics including at least 2 contact hours in responsible prescribing of controlled substances, written in the old advanced practice nurse prescriber terms, and the Department's continuing education page repeats that wording. Two dates matter and they are not the same date: the Department states the continuing education biennium runs from October 1 of an even year to September 30 of an even year, while the credential itself expires February 28 or 29 of an even year. AMCB certification is a licensure and renewal condition rather than a substitute for hours. 441.09(1)(a)5.a requires an applicant for the certified nurse-midwife specialty designation to provide evidence of current certification by the American Midwifery Certification Board or its successor, and 441.09(1)(c) requires current evidence at renewal that the licensee still satisfies that requirement. One renewal item is unique to this role: under 441.09(3m)(f) a nurse-midwife who offers to deliver babies outside a hospital setting must file with the board, and keep current, a board approved proactive plan for ensuring appropriate care or care transitions for patients with higher acuity or emergency needs beyond the licensee's scope, and must file it both at initial application and at each renewal.

Required CE topics for Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin CNM need to renew?

Wisconsin nurse-midwives must complete 16 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Wisconsin Board of Nursing (Department of Safety and Professional Services). Wisconsin puts the whole continuing education burden on the advanced practice credential and none on the registered nurse license, which requires no continuing education at all, so the sixteen hours stand alone with nothing to stack on, replace or run parallel to. Wis. Stat. 441.09(4) states that every advanced practice registered nurse shall submit to the board evidence of having completed at least 16 contact hours per biennium in clinical pharmacology or therapeutics relevant to the advanced practice registered nurse's area of practice, and that the board may promulgate rules on the requirement. The statute draws no distinction by recognized role and none by whether the nurse prescribes, so on its face the sixteen hours reach a nurse-midwife, including one whose license carries the notation under 441.09(1)(b)5 that the licensee may not issue prescription orders. Every one of the sixteen hours is subject mandated, since the statute confines them to clinical pharmacology or therapeutics. The two hour controlled substance subset comes from the administrative rule rather than the statute: Wis. Admin. Code N 8.05(1) requires 16 contact hours per biennium in clinical pharmacology or therapeutics including at least 2 contact hours in responsible prescribing of controlled substances, written in the old advanced practice nurse prescriber terms, and the Department's continuing education page repeats that wording. Two dates matter and they are not the same date: the Department states the continuing education biennium runs from October 1 of an even year to September 30 of an even year, while the credential itself expires February 28 or 29 of an even year. AMCB certification is a licensure and renewal condition rather than a substitute for hours. 441.09(1)(a)5.a requires an applicant for the certified nurse-midwife specialty designation to provide evidence of current certification by the American Midwifery Certification Board or its successor, and 441.09(1)(c) requires current evidence at renewal that the licensee still satisfies that requirement. One renewal item is unique to this role: under 441.09(3m)(f) a nurse-midwife who offers to deliver babies outside a hospital setting must file with the board, and keep current, a board approved proactive plan for ensuring appropriate care or care transitions for patients with higher acuity or emergency needs beyond the licensee's scope, and must file it both at initial application and at each renewal.

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

Certified Nurse-Midwife licenses in Wisconsin renew every two years. The credential renews every two years and expires February 28, or February 29 in a leap year, of each even numbered year, the same date as the Wisconsin registered nurse license. The Department states that under Wis. Stat. 440.08(2) the required renewal date for the Nurse Midwife credential is 02/28 or 29 of even years, and that a nurse who receives an initial credential in the months before that date still has to renew on the statutory date. Under Wis. Stat. 441.09(1)(c) the licensee submits, on or before that date, a statement with name and residence, the nursing workforce survey and fee required under 441.01(7), evidence of having satisfied the continuing education requirements under 441.09(4), evidence of any required malpractice liability insurance, any out of hospital birth plan required under 441.09(3m)(f), and current evidence of continuing to satisfy the licensure requirements including the American Midwifery Certification Board certification in 441.09(1)(a)5.a. Renewal also requires holding a current Wisconsin registered nurse license or a multistate registered nurse license from a compact state, and the board renews that registered nurse license at the same time.

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

Clinical pharmacology or therapeutics relevant to the licensee's area of practice: 16 contact hours every renewal cycle (all advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse-midwives, with no distinction in the statute for whether the licensee prescribes). Responsible prescribing of controlled substances: 2 contact hours every renewal cycle (advanced practice nurse prescribers in the rule's own words; whether it reaches a nurse-midwife whose license carries the no prescribing notation under Wis. Stat. 441.09(1)(b)5 is unsettled after 2025 Act 17, see the advisory). Citations: clinical pharmacology or therapeutics relevant to the licensee's area of practice (Wis. Stat. 441.09(4)) and responsible prescribing of controlled substances (Wis. Admin. Code N 8.05(1)).

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

Proof of completion must be submitted with the renewal and records must be kept for 4 years.

Sources

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

• Wis. Stat. 441.09, Advanced practice registered nurses (licensure, specialty designations, renewal, practice requirements)Statute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Wis. Stat. 441.09(4), Continuing educationStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Wis. Stat. 441.09(3m)(f), out of hospital birth plan for a certified nurse-midwifeStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Wis. Admin. Code N 8.05, Continuing educationStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Wis. Stat. chapter 440 subchapter XII, Licensed Midwives (the separate credential, which exempts an APRN with a certified nurse-midwife specialty designation)Statute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Nurse Midwife, Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
• Advanced Practice Nurse Prescriber Continuing Education, Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
• Advanced Practice Nurse Prescriber, Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
• Board of Nursing, Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesState board page, accessed September 10, 2026

Wisconsin has a distinct nurse-midwife credential and the regulator is the Board of Nursing within the Department of Safety and Professional Services, but the shape of the credential changed nine days before this verification, which is why the record carries an advisory. Until August 31, 2026 a Wisconsin nurse-midwife held a separate license under Wis. Stat. 441.15, 2023 stats, with its own application and license number. Under 2025 Wisconsin Act 17, effective September 1, 2026, the state issues one advanced practice registered nurse license with one of four recognized roles, and Wis. Stat. 441.09(1)(b)1.c directs the board to grant an APRN license with a nurse-midwife specialty designation to each person who held a nurse-midwife license on August 31, 2026. The Department confirms the same on its own Nurse Midwife page and says a person who would previously have applied as a nurse-midwife should now apply as an advanced practice registered nurse with the specialty of certified nurse-midwife. The Board completed emergency rules to guide the transition, which the Department publishes as a PDF that was not opened under the no download rule; that URL is listed in the build report. The rule was established as governing the nurse-midwife rather than another kind of midwife by the statute itself: 441.09(1)(a)5.a requires the certified nurse-midwife specialty applicant to hold current American Midwifery Certification Board certification, 441.09(3)(b)2.a reserves the title certified nurse-midwife to a holder of that designation, 441.09(3m)(a)2 exempts that designation from the collaboration requirement that binds other roles, and 441.09(3m)(f) writes an out of hospital birth plan requirement only for that designation. Wisconsin also licenses midwives who are not nurses, under Wis. Stat. chapter 440 subchapter XII; 440.981(1) and 440.982(1) both carve an APRN with a certified nurse-midwife specialty designation out of that scheme, so none of subchapter XII is recorded here. AMCB certification is a condition of the credential under 441.09(1)(a)5.a and of renewal under 441.09(1)(c), not an alternative to hours, and per the brief's rule no AMCB Certificate Maintenance Program total is recorded. Two topic keys are not on the canonical list: pharmacology, used as the brief directs, and controlled_substances, used because the rule writes the subset as responsible prescribing of controlled substances rather than opioids. One live prescribing wrinkle is specific to nurse-midwives and does not arise for the other roles: 441.09(1)(b)5 puts a notation on the license stating the licensee may not issue prescription orders where the person was granted the license under subd. 1.c, that is by conversion from a nurse-midwife license, and did not hold a s. 441.16(2), 2023 stats prescriber certificate on January 1, 2026. A converted nurse-midwife may therefore be barred from prescribing while still owing sixteen hours of clinical pharmacology or therapeutics under 441.09(4), and the two hour controlled substance subset in N 8.05 is written for a prescriber. That is the tension the advisory points at. Compared with the existing Wisconsin records, this one agrees with wi-np and wi-crna on the sixteen hour figure, the February 28 or 29 even year renewal date, the absence of any registered nurse continuing education requirement and the Act 17 transition, and it carries the same caveat on the two hour subset that wi-crna carries.