As an ANCC board certified professional, you must meet specified requirements in order to maintain and renew your certification within five years. The purpose of certification renewal is to provide evidence that you have continued to expand your professional knowledge to demonstrate evidence of continual competence in your certification specialty. It also allows you to continue to use your ANCC credentials.

• Develop your five year plan to show evidence of continual competence requirements for certification renewal.
• Visit the ANCC website on a regular basis to download the most current renewal application, because certification renewal criteria can change to reflect the current health care environment.
• Provide ANCC with any changes to your contact information including a preferred email.
• Maintain an active registered nurse license.

Warning: There is no grace period and no backdating. Certification renewal applications received after the certification expiration date will have a renewal period beginning with the date of approval and will therefore incur a gap in the certification dates. When there is a gap in certification dates, ANCC can not backdate a certification renewal to meet regulatory, reimbursement, or other requirements for practice. You will need to check with your state licensing board, employer, and/or the agency that is reimbursing your services to determine if you can continue to practice and/or receive reimbursement for services while you are in the process of reactivating your certification. If your employer or state board of nursing (SBON) requires certification in order for you to practice and your certification lapses, then the employer or SBON may no longer allow you to practice. Please submit the complete application when you renew - submitting a partial or incomplete renewal package will only delay approval of your certification renewal, resulting in a longer gap in the certification dates.

Certification Reactivation
A lapsed or expired ANCC certification may be reactivated. There is no "grace period." The procedure to reactive your ANCC certification depends on the amount of time that has lapsed since the certification expiration date.

If it has been two years or less since your certification expired, you can reactivate your ANCC certification using a combination of professional development plus a minimum of 1000 practice hours for your certification specialty within the past five years from the date your submit your application. If you do not have the practice hours, then you can renew by professional development and retaking the exam. You will need to pay the certification renewal fee plus the additional reactivation fee. The 2011 reactivation fee is $125.00. Applications received without the correct fees and supporting documentation are considered incomplete and will delay the reactivation process.

If it has been more than two years since your certification expired and the exam is still offered, you can reactivate your ANCC certification by a combination of professional development plus retesting for your certification specialty. You will need to pay certification renewal fee plus the additional reactivation fee. The 2011 reactivation fee is $125.00. Applications received without the correct fees and supporting documentation are considered incomplete and will delay the reactivation process. If your certification exam has been retired, this option is not available.

You will need to check with your state licensing board, employer, and the agency that is reimbursing your services to determine if you can continue to practice and/or receive reimbursement for services while you are in the process of reactivating your certification.

If you have multiple certifications that have expired, you will need to meet all certification renewal requirements for each expired certification and submit an application with the renewal fee and reactivation fee for each certification you are choosing to reactivate.

Backdating of Certification
When there is a gap in a certification dates, ANCC cannot backdate a certification renewal to meet any regulatory or other requirements for practice. Certification renewal applications received after the certification expiration date will have a certification renewal period beginning with the date of approval and incur a gap in the certification dates. Submitting an incomplete certification renewal application (e.g. missing pages of the application, insufficient professional development documentation, expired license, missing signatures, etc.) will delay the evaluation of your application. All missing information will need to be received and evaluated before a final decision is made.