Top Free Nursing CEUs Available Online

5 Min Read Published April 17, 2024
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To keep a valid and active nursing license, nurses must participate in continuing education throughout their careers. State boards of nursing measure their hours of participation in continuing education by CEUs.

The exact requirements of CEUs vary by state, but most states do require some amount of CEUs for license renewal. If you're looking for free nursing CEUs you can complete right now, you've come to the right place! 

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Is it Possible to Get Nursing CEUs Free?

Yes! Absolutely. Some employers will offer free classes, local universities often host guest lectures that may qualify, and it’s especially easy with free online courses. 

Top Places for Free Nursing CEUs Available Online

1. Nurse.com

Nurse.com offers a number of free nursing continuing education courses on a wide variety of topics. These courses are approved by the ANCC and available across the US. 

To access these courses, you just need to create a Nurse.com account, complete your online courses, and then take a CE test to get your certificate. Here are some of the courses currently available for free:

2. Incredible Health

Incredible Health has a library of online CE courses accredited by the ANCC, including a number of free courses. In order to access your free CEUs, you'll need to create an Incredible Health account and download their app. Here are some of the free courses they have available now:

3. Nurse CEU

Nurse CEU is an online nursing directory of CEU providers. On their site, they have a page with lots of free nurse CEU courses available. Some of the current courses featured are:

4. Quantum Units Education

Quantum Units Education is a trusted online CE provider that has served over 150,000 CE Courses since 2005. Currently, they are offering 2 free CEUs:

5. NursingCE.com

NursingCE.com is an ANCC-accredited provider of nursing CEUs. They offer a limited selection of free nursing CEUs. In order to receive your certificate, you'll need to review the material and earn a score of 80% or higher on the test. Here are 2 free CEU options from them:

Popular Online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Programs

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Walden University

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Accreditation
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Enrollment: Nationwide, excluding CT, ND, NY and RI. Certain programs have additional state restrictions. Check with Walden for details.

How Many CEUs Do Nurses Need Per Year?

To determine how many CEUs nurses need by state, Nurse.org has compiled a complete list of CEU requirements and state board contact information. Some states specify requirements for specific educational classes, including child abuse, narcotic, and COVID vaccination,  as part of the total mandatory CEU credits. 

On average, nurses will need to earn 20-30 contact hours with every nursing license renewal (typically every 2 years). Once your renewal window passes, your CEU accumulation starts over again. You cannot carry over CEUs from previous years and use them throughout your career. This forces nurses to truly educate themselves in a consistent manner year to year. 

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Brittany Hamstra
BSN, RN, CPN
Brittany Hamstra
Nurse.org Contributor

Brittany Hamstra is a travel nurse on assignment in the amazing city of San Francisco. She specializes in Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, Neurology, and Epilepsy. When not working at the hospital or writing articles for Nurse.org, she enjoys playing beach volleyball or exploring the crazy beautiful nature around her. She loves a good adventure, and is currently planning her next big trip - trekking Patagonia in South America in December 2018. Travel nurses have the most fun!

Education:
Bachelor of the Arts (BA) in Physical and Biologiccal Anthropology, University of Florida
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), University of Central Florida

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