Iowa Nursing CE Courses
Last updated Mar 1, 2026
Iowa Nursing Continuing Education Requirements
RN Requirements
- 36 hrs of continuing education each renewal period
- two-year license renewal period
- Mandatory Reporters of Child & Adult Abuse - Required Course (hour count not stated)
LPN Requirements
- 36 hrs of continuing education each renewal period
- two-year license renewal period
- Mandatory Reporters of Child & Adult Abuse - Required Course (hour count not stated)
APRN Requirements
- None identified as a separate APRN-specific CE total in the source reviewed
- Renewal cycle: 3 years
- Pharmacology: None identified
- Required topic: None identified
Show me the course list for my licence

Iowa RN required courses
36 contact hours in this list, included with your yearly pass. Always confirm with your board before you renew.
This board names no specific required topic for RNs — any of our courses count toward your hours.
Elective courses
Pick from these to finish your hours. Every one is included with the yearly pass.
4 contact hoursBuild practical nursing skills for recognizing autism, supporting assessment, adapting care, managing health needs, and partnering with autistic people and families across the lifespan.
4 contact hoursChronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a heterogeneous lung condition marked by persistent respiratory symptoms and airflow obstruction. The underlying abnormalities may involve the conducting airways, terminal bronchioles, alveoli, pulmonary vessels, or a combination of these structures.
5 contact hoursBuild safe, evidence-based practice for selecting, verifying, administering, monitoring, and responding to transfusions of blood components.
3 contact hoursEvidence-based nursing care for breast cancer screening, diagnosis, staging, treatment, symptom management, survivorship, recurrence, and metastatic disease.
4 contact hoursAfter completing this course, nurses will be able to distinguish common arthritic and arthritis-associated conditions using symptom patterns, examination findings, laboratory data, imaging, and synovial fluid results.
10 contact hoursApply current nursing ethics codes, structured reasoning, informed consent standards, advocacy practices, and professional accountability to common clinical dilemmas.
4 contact hoursBuild practical skills in cultural humility, bias mitigation, language access, inclusive assessment, and equitable nursing care across diverse populations.
2 contact hoursAfter completing this course, nurses will be able to distinguish organ donation from tissue donation, explain living and deceased donation pathways, and describe current standards for determining death by neurologic or circulatory criteria.
Iowa nursing CE questions
Straight from the Iowa board
- Renewal period
- two-year license renewal period
- RN requirement
- 36/3 yrs
- LPN / LVN requirement
- 36/3 yrs
- Mandatory topics
- Mandatory Reporters of Child & Adult Abuse - Required Course (hour count not stated)
- Required courses
- RN: 36 CE hours every 3 years, including applicable child/dependent-adult abuse training. LPN: 36 CE hours every 3 years, including applicable child/dependent-adult abuse training. The abuse course must meet Iowa's statutory/provider requirements. Source: Iowa Board of Nursing.
- Good to know
- Iowa requires 36 hours of continuing education during each 3-year license period. In addition, nurses who are subject to Iowa's mandatory abuse-training requirement must complete the applicable child/dependent-adult abuse education. The exact applicability depends on the nurse's practice. Source: Iowa Board of Nursing.
- Advanced practice CE
- None identified as a separate APRN-specific CE total in the source reviewed
- Renewal period
- 3 years
- Pharmacology
- None identified
- Who it applies to
- APRNs
- Controlled substances / opioids
- None identified
- Pain and opioid content
- None identified
- Prescriptive authority
- None identified
- Who approves the course
- Iowa Board of Nursing
- Accepted providers
- Licensees select CE that meets Iowa's current nursing CE standards
Source citation pending admin review (placeholder). Reviewed Mar 1, 2026. User self-report (confirm with Board)
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Ask about requirements, a course, pricing or your license. Answers come from our own course list and state notes.
Answers come from Fast CE For Less's own course list and our notes on state requirements. Always check your board's own rules before you count hours.
