Renewal Practice Requirements

Nursing practice for the purposes of relicensure must meet or exceed 400 hours within the preceding four (4) years.  Hours practiced in another regulated profession cannot be used for nursing practice hours.

    • Nurses who have completed a refresher course within the preceding year or graduated from a nursing undergraduate or nursing graduate program in the last four (4) years with less than 400 hours of nursing practice will be able to renew their license without meeting this requirement.

Renewal Continuing Education Requirements

The Nurse Practices Act contains continuing education requirements in Section 43-12.1-20.  For that reason, before the Board may renew or reactivate a license, the licensee must verify to the Board that the required continuing education requirements have been met by certification on the renewal or reactivation form.

The Board determined in Section 54-02-05-08 that continuing education for purposes of relicensure must meet or exceed twelve (12) contact hours within the preceding two (2) years.

An APRN with Prescriptive Authority must complete 15 contact hours of pharmacotherapy education related to scope of practice during the previous two (2) years.

These contact hours fulfill the registered nurse renewal continuing education requirement.  NDAC 54-05-03.1-11

    • An applicant that obtained initial RN or LPN licensure through examination will not need to complete additional contact hours of approved continuing education before the first renewal of a nursing license.  The requirements have been met through the academic coursework.
    • An applicant for reactivation of a license can use the refresher course contact hours for the first renewal cycle after reactivation of a license.
    • A renewal applicant must have completed the continuing education requirements prior to renewal.
    • The ND Board of Nursing performs random audits of compliance with this mandatory renewal requirement.
      • Continuing education completed after December 31 in the year of renewal will be assessed a fee of $50 per contact hour earned after that date (ie-$600 for 12 contact hours done after December 31).
      • If audited, failure to provide proof of continuing education may result in sanctions against your nursing license (ie-$500 for LPN Reprimand or $600 for RN Reprimand).

Learn more about renewal continuing education requirements by clicking here.

More information on utilizing CE Broker, the ND Board of Nursing’s official continuing education tracking system, can be found here.

Reactivation to Limited License or Limited Registration

Applicants who are not able to immediately and readily provide the board with traditional evidence of competency or certification, including practice and continuing education requirements, may be considered for reactivation of their license to a temporary limited status.

All Licensing and Registration Applications Now Online

All applications for licensure and registration with the North Dakota Board of Nursing must be submitted through the Nurse Portal. This includes initial applications and renewals. Paper applications are no longer accepted.

To access the Nurse Portal, click the “Nurse Portal” button located in the main navigation of our website or visit:
https://ndbon.boardsofnursing.org/ndbn/

For help setting up your Nurse Portal account, visit:
https://www.ndbon.org/nurse-portal/

Renew/Reactivate your License

  • Visit the Nurse Portal to begin your renewal. If you have not created your Nurse Portal account, you will need to do so first in order to renew.
  • You may update your name/address and other demographic information during online renewal/reactivation.
  • If your browser has auto-fill enabled, don’t use it.  Type in all information for accuracy. The Nurse Portal supports Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers.
  • Allow 3-5 business days for your updated expiration date to display on our Verify site after renewal of an active license.  Saturday, Sunday and holidays are not considered business days.
  • To view and print your license information, including your license number and expiration date, visit our new Verification Portal.
  • No hard copy of licenses are mailed.

Renewal & Reactivation Fees

Renewal for Active Licenses Late Renewal ¹ Reactivation ²
LPN Renewal: $130 LPN Late Renewal: $260 LPN Reactivation: $210
RN Renewal: $140 RN Late Renewal: $280 RN Reactivation: $220
Specialty Practice RN Renewal: $220 Specialty Practice RN Late Renewal: $440 Specialty Practice RN Reactivation: $300
Advanced Practice RN Renewal: $220 Advanced Practice RN Late Renewal: $440 Advanced Practice RN Reactivation: $300
Advanced Practice RN with RX Authority Renewal: $295 Advanced Practice RN with RX Authority Late Renewal: $590 Advanced Practice RN with RX Authority Reactivation: $375
Advanced Practice License ONLY Renewal (Compact RN): $80 Advanced Practice License ONLY Late Renewal (Compact RN): $160 Advanced Practice License ONLY Reactivation (Compact RN): $160
Advanced Practice with RX Authority ONLY Renewal (Compact RN): $155 Advanced Practice with RX Authority ONLY Late Renewal (Compact RN): $310 Advanced Practice with RX Authority ONLY Reactivation (Compact RN): $235
Specialty Practice License ONLY Renewal (Compact RN): $80 Specialty Practice License ONLY Late Renewal (Compact RN): $160 Specialty Practice License ONLY Reactivation (Compact RN): $160
1: Late renewal occurs the January following your license expiration. Additional fees may be added if you practiced without a current license.
2: Reactivation is a process to activate a license that has since lapsed (other licensing boards may refer to this process as a “reinstatement”).

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Page Last Modified: June 2, 2025