Virginia APRN license renewal: CE, fees, and prescriptive rules

NP, CRNA, CNM, CNS · Verified 2026-06-04

The Virginia Board of Nursing does not set a fixed CE-hour mandate for APRN renewal. The APRN renewal fee is $80. The board is one of up to four clocks: your national certification and any DEA registration renew separately.

What the Virginia Board of Nursing requires of APRNs

Requirement	Hours	Status
APRN National Certification	Course-based	Required
APRN CE Alternative (licensed before May 8, 2002)	40 hrs	One of several options
Prescriptive Authority Pharmacology	8 hrs	Conditional
Nursing Practice	Course-based	Optional

Full renewal context (deadlines, grace period, audits): Virginia nursing license renewal guide.

Prescriptive authority in Virginia

What we verified for Virginia

Board-sourced

Practice authority: Reduced practice with an autonomous pathway: NPs with 3 years or 5,400 hours of clinical experience (threshold lowered July 1, 2024) may register for autonomous practice and drop the practice agreement. Other NPs, and CRNAs/CNSs, practice with physician involvement.
Collaboration / supervision: Non-autonomous NPs with prescriptive authority maintain a written practice agreement with a patient-care-team physician covering prescriptive scope, drug categories, review frequency, and escalation. Autonomous-practice NPs are exempt.
State controlled-substance registration: No separate state controlled-substance registration for licensed prescribers; DEA registration plus the Virginia PMP govern.
Prescriber CE: Initial prescriptive authority requires 30 contact hours of pharmacology CE within the prior 5 years; renewal adds 8 hours of pharmacology or pharmacotherapeutics CE per biennium.
National certification at renewal: Virginia licenses APRNs jointly with the Board of Medicine on the basis of national certification; APRNs licensed since 2002 maintain certification as the continued-competency pathway.

Source: Virginia Board of Nursing APRN resources and 18VAC90-30/40, last checked 2026-06-11. Rules change; confirm with the board before relying on this.

The other three clocks

Virginia has not enacted the APRN Compact (which is not yet operational anywhere). The Nurse Licensure Compact covers RN and LPN/VN licenses only, so multi-state APRN practice still means a separate APRN credential in each state. Your national certification (AANPCB, ANCC, NBCRNA, or AMCB) and any DEA registration renew on their own cycles, with their own CE math.

The four-clock guide: certification cycles, compact status, DEA and MATE

Virginia APRN renewal FAQ

How many CE hours do APRNs need to renew in Virginia?: The Virginia Board of Nursing does not set a fixed CE-hour mandate for APRN renewal. Your national certification still carries its own CE requirement on a separate clock.
What is the APRN renewal fee in Virginia?: The Virginia APRN renewal fee is $80, which differs from the RN fee; budget for both if you renew both credentials. Fees change, so confirm the current amount on the Virginia Board of Nursing portal.
Can APRNs prescribe independently in Virginia?: Reduced practice with an autonomous pathway: NPs with 3 years or 5,400 hours of clinical experience (threshold lowered July 1, 2024) may register for autonomous practice and drop the practice agreement. Other NPs, and CRNAs/CNSs, practice with physician involvement.
Does Virginia require a state controlled-substance registration on top of the DEA?: No separate state controlled-substance registration for licensed prescribers; DEA registration plus the Virginia PMP govern.
Is Virginia in the APRN Compact?: No. Virginia has not enacted the APRN Compact, and the compact itself is not yet operational anywhere. The Nurse Licensure Compact covers RN and LPN/VN licenses only, so it does not extend APRN practice across state lines.
Does my national certification have to be current to renew my Virginia APRN license?: Virginia licenses APRNs jointly with the Board of Medicine on the basis of national certification; APRNs licensed since 2002 maintain certification as the continued-competency pathway.

More for Virginia nurses

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What the Virginia Board of Nursing requires of APRNs

Requirement	Hours	Status
APRN National Certification	Course-based	Required
APRN CE Alternative (licensed before May 8, 2002)	40 hrs	One of several options
Prescriptive Authority Pharmacology	8 hrs	Conditional
Nursing Practice	Course-based	Optional

Prescriptive authority in Virginia

What we verified for Virginia

Board-sourced

Practice authority: Reduced practice with an autonomous pathway: NPs with 3 years or 5,400 hours of clinical experience (threshold lowered July 1, 2024) may register for autonomous practice and drop the practice agreement. Other NPs, and CRNAs/CNSs, practice with physician involvement.
Collaboration / supervision: Non-autonomous NPs with prescriptive authority maintain a written practice agreement with a patient-care-team physician covering prescriptive scope, drug categories, review frequency, and escalation. Autonomous-practice NPs are exempt.
State controlled-substance registration: No separate state controlled-substance registration for licensed prescribers; DEA registration plus the Virginia PMP govern.
Prescriber CE: Initial prescriptive authority requires 30 contact hours of pharmacology CE within the prior 5 years; renewal adds 8 hours of pharmacology or pharmacotherapeutics CE per biennium.
National certification at renewal: Virginia licenses APRNs jointly with the Board of Medicine on the basis of national certification; APRNs licensed since 2002 maintain certification as the continued-competency pathway.

Source: Virginia Board of Nursing APRN resources and 18VAC90-30/40, last checked 2026-06-11. Rules change; confirm with the board before relying on this.

The other three clocks

Virginia APRN renewal FAQ

How many CE hours do APRNs need to renew in Virginia?

The Virginia Board of Nursing does not set a fixed CE-hour mandate for APRN renewal. Your national certification still carries its own CE requirement on a separate clock.

What is the APRN renewal fee in Virginia?

The Virginia APRN renewal fee is $80, which differs from the RN fee; budget for both if you renew both credentials. Fees change, so confirm the current amount on the Virginia Board of Nursing portal.

Can APRNs prescribe independently in Virginia?

Reduced practice with an autonomous pathway: NPs with 3 years or 5,400 hours of clinical experience (threshold lowered July 1, 2024) may register for autonomous practice and drop the practice agreement. Other NPs, and CRNAs/CNSs, practice with physician involvement.

Does Virginia require a state controlled-substance registration on top of the DEA?

No separate state controlled-substance registration for licensed prescribers; DEA registration plus the Virginia PMP govern.

Is Virginia in the APRN Compact?

No. Virginia has not enacted the APRN Compact, and the compact itself is not yet operational anywhere. The Nurse Licensure Compact covers RN and LPN/VN licenses only, so it does not extend APRN practice across state lines.

Does my national certification have to be current to renew my Virginia APRN license?

Virginia licenses APRNs jointly with the Board of Medicine on the basis of national certification; APRNs licensed since 2002 maintain certification as the continued-competency pathway.