Kentucky nursing continuing education

Continuing education or continuing competence rule

RN and LPN licensees must complete an approved continuing-competence option each annual period; the standard route is 14 contact hours.

Mandatory topics, pathways and conditions

• Complete the selected Board-approved competence option.
• Meet any mandatory Kentucky content that applies to the period or credential.
• Use approved providers and retain certificates.

Credential-specific checks

Keep evidence for an audit

Keep continuing-competence documentation for five years and provide it if selected for audit.

• Keep certificates and provider details for the published retention period.
• Confirm course completion falls inside the correct renewal period.
• Do not assume RN and APRN requirements are identical.
• Check whether the provider reports electronically or whether you must upload documentation.

Common CE problems

Fraud and privacy safety

• Begin every Kentucky transaction from a reviewed authority domain (kbn.ky.gov) or a source-reviewed link on this guide.
• Do not give a caller payment-card details, a password or a one-time code merely because the caller claims to represent Kentucky Board of Nursing.
• If threatened with immediate suspension or arrest, end the call and verify the issue through (502) 429-3300 or the secure Kentucky account.
• For Kentucky, use NCSBN License Verification Guidance to confirm current status rather than a private lookup page or emailed screenshot.
• Upload identity, background, education or legal documents only through a secure method explicitly named by Kentucky Board of Nursing.
• Before paying, verify the credential, transaction and amount against the current Kentucky instructions; save the receipt and then verify the public record.
• For Kentucky, report a suspected licensing impersonation or phishing attempt to the authority and the relevant consumer-protection or law-enforcement channel.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources reviewed