Kentucky nursing CE requirements
For registered nurse license renewal, read off Kentucky BON Continuing Education rather than an aggregator. Checked 2026-10-15.
14 hours
if you satisfy this board with coursework, every 1 years
This board accepts alternatives to sitting continuing education hours. Any one of the pathways below satisfies the requirement.
Ways to satisfy Kentucky
14 CE contact hours
14 CE hoursSatisfactory supervisor evaluation plus 7 contact hours
7 CE hoursCurrent national nursing certification or recertification
A post-licensure college nursing course, grade C or Pass
15 CE hoursOne credit hour equals 15 contact hours; one quarter hour equals 12.
Precepting at least one student or new employee for at least 120 hours
Publishing a nursing article in a peer-reviewed health journal
Presenting a KBN-approved CE course
Presenter earns twice the attendee contact hours.
Completing a nursing research project as investigator or director
More than one pathway here carries an hour figure and they are not interchangeable. A smaller number usually buys you less: it may be hours you deliver rather than attend, or hours that only count alongside something else.
Required, and the board does not say whether it counts
Alzheimers and Dementia
1 hours · one-time
all nurses
Nurses actively licensed as of 15 July 2024 must finish by 31 October 2027; those licensed later within 3 years of initial licensure.
Suicide Prevention
2 hours · one-time
nurses trained outside Kentucky, or in Kentucky before August 2025
1 hour general plus 1 hour chronic toxic stress, within 3 years of initial licensure.
Domestic Violence
3 hours · one-time
nurses trained outside Kentucky, or in Kentucky before May 1988
Within 3 years of initial licensure.
Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma
1.5 hours · one-time
nurses trained outside Kentucky, or in Kentucky before December 2011
Within 3 years of initial licensure.
Do BLS and ACLS cards count?
Yes
ACLS, PALS and NRP count toward contact hours if completed through a Kentucky-approved provider. They are not national certifications for the certification option.
One contact hour is
50 minutes
- The board requires 1 hours of Alzheimers and Dementia but does not say whether it counts inside the total above. Assume it does not until you have confirmed it, so you are not short.
- The board requires 2 hours of Suicide Prevention but does not say whether it counts inside the total above. Assume it does not until you have confirmed it, so you are not short.
- The board requires 3 hours of Domestic Violence but does not say whether it counts inside the total above. Assume it does not until you have confirmed it, so you are not short.
- The board requires 1.5 hours of Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma but does not say whether it counts inside the total above. Assume it does not until you have confirmed it, so you are not short.
- You can satisfy this board more than one way, so the right number of hours for you depends on which pathway you take.
Annual, earned 1 November to 31 October. There is NO implicit bias requirement, contrary to one aggregator.
Read from that page on 2026-10-15. Boards change their rules and their websites without announcing either, so treat this as a convenience and the board as the authority.
Get warned before your Kentucky licence renews
Tell us the date on your licence and we will email you 60 days before it lapses. Once, per cycle. No account, no password, nothing else sent to you.
Hold a licence in more than one state?
The compliance map takes the CE you have already done and shows you where it would hold up across all 51 jurisdictions at once, including the ones that do not work the way anybody assumes. Three questions, no account. Both tools are available in English, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese.