MAINTENANCE OF CERTIFICATION

1. (a) The certification, and prescriptive authority approval, if applicable, of a CRNP will expire at the same time as the CRNP’s registered nurse license as provided in § 21.29 (relating to expiration and renewal of license).
2. (b) Notice of application for renewal will be forwarded biennially to each active CRNP at the CRNP’s address of record with the Board prior to the expiration date of the current biennial period.

3. (c) As a condition of biennial renewal, a CRNP shall:

   1. (1) Renew the CRNP’s registered nurse license.

   2. (2) Verify completion of a minimum of 30 hours of Board-approved continuing education in the 2 years prior to renewal, including at least 2 hours of approved training in child abuse recognition and reporting in accordance with § 21.508(b) (relating to child abuse recognition and reporting—mandatory training requirement). As a condition of biennial renewal of prescriptive authority approval, in the 2 years prior to the biennial renewal date of the certification, a CRNP shall also verify completion of:

      1. (i) At least 16 hours of Board-approved continuing education in pharmacology.
      2. (ii) At least 2 hours of Board-approved continuing education in pain management, the identification of addiction or the practices of prescribing or dispensing opioids in the 2 years prior to renewal if the licensee is renewing a prescriptive authority approval and holds a current Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration or is utilizing the DEA registration of another. If required, this education shall be completed once per renewal regardless of the number of prescriptive authority approvals being renewed.
   3. (3) Demonstrate current National certification, if the CRNP was certified by the Board after February 7, 2005.
   4. (4) Pay the required biennial renewal fee set forth in § 21.253 (relating to fees).
   5. (5) Verify compliance with section 8.7 of the act (63 P.S. § 218.7) regarding liability coverage.
   6. (6) Effective May 1, 2026, verify completion of at least 2 of the 30 hours in Board-approved continuing education in organ and tissue donation and recovery process in accordance with § 21.131(a.1) (relating to continuing education) within 5 years of certification renewal. Certificate holders who obtain certification on or after the effective date shall verify completion of the 2 hours within 5 years of initial certification.
4. (d) Any written communication with the Board must be typed or printed and include the CRNP’s full name, including former names, the current address and certification number.

Authority

The provisions of this § 21.331 amended under section 2.1(k) of The Professional Nursing Law (63 P.S. § 212.1(k)); section 17.6 of the Practical Nurse Law (63 P.S. § 667.6); section 9.1 of the Achieving Better Care by Monitoring All Prescriptions Program (ABC-MAP) Act (35 P.S. § 872.9a); sections 1—9 of the Safe Emergency Prescribing Act (35 P.S. § § 873.1—873.9); 20 Pa.C.S. § 8628; and 23 Pa.C.S. § 6383(b)(2).

Source

The provisions of this § 21.331 adopted July 22, 1977, effective July 23, 1977, 7 Pa.B. 2063; amended October 18, 1985, effective October 19, 1985, 15 Pa.B. 3726; amended December 11, 2009, effective December 12, 2009, 39 Pa.B. 6994; amended March 25, 2022, effective March 26, 2022, 52 Pa.B. 1916; amended October 31, 2025, effective November 1, 2025, 55 Pa.B. 7504. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (385216) and (409281).

Cross References

This section cited in 49 Pa. Code § 21.283 (relating to authority and qualifications for prescribing, dispensing and ordering drugs).