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Arkansas CME and nursing CE requirements
Continuing education and license renewal rules for physicians, advanced practice clinicians and nurses licensed in Arkansas, as recorded by ClinLicense for planning.
Planning aid only. ClinLicense is not legal or compliance advice. Boards change rules between cycles, so confirm every requirement with the board before you rely on it.
- Licensing board
- Arkansas State Medical Board
- License renewal
- Every 1 year
MD CME requirements
Reviewed 2026-10-31 This entry was last reviewed on 2026-10-31. That date records our own review and is not a board approval. Some details below are marked for confirmation, so treat those as unverified until the board confirms them. Always confirm with the board before you rely on it.
- Total hours
- 20 hours every year, with at least 20 in Category 1 or the equivalent
- License renewal
- Every 1 year
Required topics
| Topic | Hours | How often | Applies to | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opioid & controlled-substance prescribing | 1 | Every cycle | DEA registrants | Controlled-substance/opioid prescribing for CS prescribers; hours to be confirmed |
Notes. Annual renewal, 20 Category 1 hours per year. Opioid/controlled-substance topic hours not fully certain.
DO CME requirements
Not yet verified Not yet verified, confirm with the board. This entry has not been checked against the board’s own published rules.
- Total hours
- 20 hours every year, with at least 20 in Category 1 or the equivalent
- License renewal
- Every 1 year
Required topics
| Topic | Hours | How often | Applies to | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opioid & controlled-substance prescribing | 1 | Every cycle | DEA registrants | Controlled-substance/opioid prescribing for CS prescribers; hours to be confirmed |
Notes. Copied from the MD block as a planning default; the osteopathic rules were not separately confirmed. Confirm with the board.
NP CME requirements
Reviewed 2026-11-01 This entry was last reviewed on 2026-11-01. That date records our own review and is not a board approval. Always confirm with the board before you rely on it.
- Total hours
- 15 hours every 2 years
- License renewal
- Every 1 year
Required topics
| Topic | Hours | How often | Applies to | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacology | 5 | Every cycle | Some licensees, see the note | Pharmacotherapeutics contact hours in area of certification, required of APRNs with prescriptive authority, in addition to the 15 hours |
Notes. 15 contact hours of accredited practice-focused activity, OR current national certification/recertification, OR a college nursing course (grade C or better), before each biennial renewal. Extra hours do not carry over. Opioid or other topics are not mentioned on the page.
PA CME requirements
Reviewed 2026-11-01 This entry was last reviewed on 2026-11-01. That date records our own review and is not a board approval. Some details below are marked for confirmation, so treat those as unverified until the board confirms them. Always confirm with the board before you rely on it.
- Total hours
- 20 hours every year
- License renewal
- Every 1 year
Required topics
| Topic | Hours | How often | Applies to | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opioid & controlled-substance prescribing | 1 | Every cycle | Everyone | One hour each year on prescribing opioids and benzodiazepines, counted within the 20 hours |
Notes. Arkansas Rule 24 (Rules Governing Physician Assistants) section 10: an active-license PA completes 20 credit hours of CME per year, certified by signature at renewal, records kept 3 years. Regulation 17 as amended adds the 1-hour opioid/benzodiazepine prescribing requirement for physicians and PAs within the 20 hours. A PA authorized to prescribe hydrocodone combination products (Schedule II since 2014) must also complete a one-time 5 hours in pain management. The rule text consulted is a copy of the Arkansas Administrative Code, Agency 060, which may lag the board; confirm current text with the board.
CRNA CME requirements
Reviewed 2026-11-01 This entry was last reviewed on 2026-11-01. That date records our own review and is not a board approval. Some details below are marked for confirmation, so treat those as unverified until the board confirms them. Always confirm with the board before you rely on it.
- Total hours
- Not recorded every 2 years
- License renewal
- Every 1 year
Required topics
| Topic | Hours | How often | Applies to | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacology | 5 | Every cycle | Some licensees, see the note | Five contact hours of pharmacotherapeutics each biennium, two of them on professional boundaries and APRN prescribing rules; applies only to APRNs with prescriptive authority, which CRNAs are not required to hold |
Notes. Arkansas ASBN APRN rules (Chapter 4, section F renewals): renewal requires proof of current national certification maintenance and an unencumbered RN license; CE submitted to the certifying body for recertification is accepted as meeting the statutory CE requirement. The only state-specified hours are the 5 pharmacotherapeutics hours for APRNs with prescriptive authority (CRNAs need not have prescriptive authority). Board APRN renewal page (healthy.arkansas.gov) confirms the 5-hour rule, and the copy of the rule text consulted is older. A board checklist is also reported to cite 15 CE hours or national certification, which is not confirmed here.
CAA CME requirements
Not yet verified Not yet verified, confirm with the board. This entry has not been checked against the board’s own published rules.
- Total hours
- Not recorded, and the renewal cycle is not recorded
- License renewal
- Every 1 year
Required topics
No mandated topics are recorded for this profession in this state. That is not the same as the board having none, so confirm with the board.
Notes. Secondary source; confirm with the board. Arkansas is not among the states or jurisdictions where anesthesiologist assistants work in the CU Anschutz AA program list (Alabama, Colorado, DC, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Vermont, Wisconsin; delegation in Michigan, New Hampshire, Texas, West Virginia). No Arkansas board licensing pathway was found.
Arkansas nursing CE requirements
Nursing boards usually count continuing education in contact hours rather than CME credits, and the nursing license renews on its own schedule, which may differ from the medical board dates above. Nurse practitioners and nurse anesthetists have their own sections above.
Nurse Licensure Compact Arkansas has implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact. A registered or practical nurse whose primary state of residence is Arkansas can hold a multistate license issued by Arkansas, which carries the privilege to practice in the other compact states, and a nurse with a multistate license from another compact state can practice in Arkansas under that privilege. Renewal and CE for a multistate license follow the rules of the home state that issued it. The compact covers RN and LPN/LVN licenses only, and advanced practice authority is still granted state by state. This compact list was last reviewed on November 3, 2026. Read the compact guide for RNs and LPNs.
Registered nurses (RN)
Reviewed 2026-11-03 This entry was last reviewed on 2026-11-03 against the source linked below. That date records our own review and is not a board approval.
- Continuing education
- 15 contact hours every 2 years
- Other ways to meet it
- Before each biennial renewal, a nurse must complete one of three options: 15 contact hours of accredited, practice-focused activities, current national certification or recertification, or at least one college credit hour in nursing with a grade of C or better earned during the licensure period.
- Nursing license renewal
- Every 2 years
- Board
- Arkansas State Board of Nursing
- Source
- The board page this entry was checked against
No mandated topics are recorded for this license. That is not the same as the board having none, so confirm with the board.
Notes. Before each biennial renewal, a nurse must complete one of three options: 15 contact hours of accredited, practice-focused activities, current national certification or recertification, or at least one college credit hour in nursing with a grade of C or better earned during the licensure period. Random compliance audits are conducted.
Licensed practical and vocational nurses (LPN/LVN)
Reviewed 2026-11-03 This entry was last reviewed on 2026-11-03 against the source linked below. That date records our own review and is not a board approval.
- Continuing education
- 15 contact hours every 2 years
- Other ways to meet it
- Before each biennial renewal, a nurse must complete one of three options: 15 contact hours of accredited, practice-focused activities, current national certification or recertification, or at least one college credit hour in nursing with a grade of C or better earned during the licensure period.
- Nursing license renewal
- Every 2 years
- Board
- Arkansas State Board of Nursing
- Source
- The board page this entry was checked against
No mandated topics are recorded for this license. That is not the same as the board having none, so confirm with the board.
Notes. Before each biennial renewal, a nurse must complete one of three options: 15 contact hours of accredited, practice-focused activities, current national certification or recertification, or at least one college credit hour in nursing with a grade of C or better earned during the licensure period. Random compliance audits are conducted.
Certified nurse-midwives (CNM)
Not yet verified This nursing entry has not been checked against the board’s own published rules, so confirm it with the board before you rely on it.
- Continuing education
- 15 contact hours every 2 years
- Other ways to meet it
- Before each biennial renewal, a nurse must complete one of three options: 15 contact hours of accredited, practice-focused activities, current national certification or recertification, or at least one college credit hour in nursing with a grade of C or better earned during the licensure period.
- Nursing license renewal
- Every 2 years
- Board
- Arkansas State Board of Nursing
- Source
- The board page this entry was checked against
Required topics
| Topic | Contact hours | How often | Applies to | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacology | 5 | Every cycle | Some licensees, see the note | Pharmacotherapeutics related to specialty certification, required of APRNs with prescriptive authority, in addition to the 15 hours |
Notes. Before each biennial renewal, a nurse must complete one of three options: 15 contact hours of accredited, practice-focused activities, current national certification or recertification, or at least one college credit hour in nursing with a grade of C or better earned during the licensure period. Random compliance audits are conducted. APRNs with prescriptive authority need five additional contact hours in pharmacotherapeutics related to their specialty certification at each renewal. The page does not separately name nurse midwives or clinical nurse specialists.
Clinical nurse specialists (CNS)
Not yet verified This nursing entry has not been checked against the board’s own published rules, so confirm it with the board before you rely on it.
- Continuing education
- 15 contact hours every 2 years
- Other ways to meet it
- Before each biennial renewal, a nurse must complete one of three options: 15 contact hours of accredited, practice-focused activities, current national certification or recertification, or at least one college credit hour in nursing with a grade of C or better earned during the licensure period.
- Nursing license renewal
- Every 2 years
- Board
- Arkansas State Board of Nursing
- Source
- The board page this entry was checked against
Required topics
| Topic | Contact hours | How often | Applies to | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacology | 5 | Every cycle | Some licensees, see the note | Pharmacotherapeutics related to specialty certification, required of APRNs with prescriptive authority, in addition to the 15 hours |
Notes. Before each biennial renewal, a nurse must complete one of three options: 15 contact hours of accredited, practice-focused activities, current national certification or recertification, or at least one college credit hour in nursing with a grade of C or better earned during the licensure period. Random compliance audits are conducted. APRNs with prescriptive authority need five additional contact hours in pharmacotherapeutics related to their specialty certification at each renewal. The page does not separately name nurse midwives or clinical nurse specialists.
See nursing CE requirements by state to compare Arkansas with other states.
Plan this renewal
Use the free opioid CME planner to see the controlled-substance rules for Arkansas next to other states, or the license cost calculator to estimate fees. Read how multi-state CME works if you hold more than one license.
Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologist assistants usually also maintain national certification, which has its own cycle. The recertification basics guide explains how that fits alongside state rules. Nurses who hold licenses in more than one state can read the Nurse Licensure Compact for RNs and LPNs.
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