Tennessee Continuing Education Requirements for Nurses and License Renewal

Licensees must complete two items from the following list in order to renew:

1. Copy of a satisfactory employer evaluation
2. Letter from a peer providing a satisfactory evaluation of your nursing performance
3. Letter from a patient or family member giving evidence of a satisfactory nurse/patient relationship
4. Copy of a contract of renewal or re-appointment to a nursing position
5. Written self-evaluation based on the standards of competence listed in the rules

RNs and LPNs are required any combination of two (2) of the following every two years:

• Five (5) contact hours of continuing education (10 if not practicing)
• Evidence of current national certification
• Copy of satisfactory employer evaluation
• Letter from peer providing satisfactory evaluation of your nursing performance
• Letter from patient or family member giving evidence of satisfactory nurse/patient relationship

• Online Limitations

  There are no online limitations.

NEW! DEA MATE ACT:
Beginning with DEA initial registrations or renewals starting June 27, 2023, all DEA-registered practitioners (with the exception of DVM-only license holders) are required to complete 8 hours of one-time training on the treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders.

License Renewal Requirements:
APRN With Certificate of Fitness (CF) must maintain evidence of the following: 
1. Current national certification (NOT state license; example: from ANCC, AANP, NBCRNA) 
2. ONE item from the Registered Nurse proof of competence below (in addition to national certification) 
3. TWO contact hours of continuing education designed specifically to address controlled substance prescribing practices including the Tennessee Chronic Pain Guidelines: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/healthprofboards/nursing/continuingeducation/Cont%20Ed%20Tennessee%20Chronic%20Pain%20Guidelines.pdf 4. Copy of current Collaborative Request/APRN Supervisory Request or Notice and Formulary if prescribing: https://lars.tn.gov/datamart/mainMenu.do

Mandatory Subjects:
All advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who have prescriptive authority and are holders of a Certificate of Fitness must have documentation of a minimum of (2) contact hours of continuing education designed specifically to address controlled substance prescribing practices.
 
Licensees must complete one item from the following list in order to renew:
1. Copy of a satisfactory employer evaluation
2. Letter from a peer providing a satisfactory evaluation of your nursing performance
3. Letter from a patient or family member giving evidence of a satisfactory nurse/patient relationship
4. Copy of a contract of renewal or re-appointment to a nursing position
5. Written self-evaluation based on the standards of competence listed in the rules
6. Evidence of current national certification
7. A document that identifies two nursing goals and how you met these goals
8. A letter from the agency where you volunteered as a nurse
9. Documentation from a school of nursing stating that you participated in the education of nursing
students (RNs only)
10. Certificate/evidence of five contact hours of continuing education (for RNs/LPNs who are not practicing, ten contact hours will fulfill the competency requirement)
11. Copy of a published article relevant to nursing written by the licensee
12. Letter of satisfactory completion of a nursing refresher course
13. Letter of satisfactory completion of a comprehensive nursing orientation program
14. Official transcript (may be student issued) demonstrating two hours of nursing credit
15. Evidence of successfully retaken NCLEX