Registered Nurse (RN) License Renewal in Delaware
Delaware RNs renew every 2 years with 30 CE hours (3 substance abuse, 1 abuse recognition) plus practice hours. Delaware is a Nurse Licensure Compact state.
| Renewal cycle | Every 2 years |
|---|---|
| CE hours required | 30 hours 30 contact hours per 2-year renewal, including at least 3 hours on substance abuse and 1 hour on recognizing and responding to abuse, exploitation, trafficking, or domestic violence of vulnerable persons. You also attest to practicing at least 1,000 hours in the past 5 years or 400 hours in the past 2 years. |
| Renewal fee | Not published |
| Mandatory CE topics | Substance abuse (3 of the 30 hours, every renewal), Recognizing and responding to abuse, exploitation, trafficking, or domestic violence of vulnerable persons (1 hr, every renewal) |
| Licensing board | Delaware Board of Nursing (Division of Professional Regulation) |
Sourced from Delaware Board of Nursing (Division of Professional Regulation), verified July 25, 2026. Requirements change. Confirm with your board before relying on this.
Delaware packs the most into its 30 continuing-education hours of almost any state on this site. It’s not just a number, it’s 30 hours with two specific slices carved out, plus a practice requirement layered on top. Miss any one piece and the attestation you sign at renewal isn’t true.
Thirty hours, with two required topics
An active Delaware RN completes 30 contact hours of CE per two-year renewal, and two of those hours are pre-assigned:
- At least 3 hours on substance abuse. A standing requirement reflecting the state’s response to the overdose crisis.
- At least 1 hour on recognizing and responding to suspected or known abuse, physical abuse, exploitation, trafficking, or domestic violence of vulnerable persons.
The remaining 26 hours are yours to fill with Board-approved nursing CE. On top of the hours, Delaware asks you to attest to currency of practice: at least 1,000 hours of nursing practice in the past five years, or 400 hours in the past two years. So a nurse who’s completed the CE but stepped away from practice can still fall short, the practice attestation is a separate box, and signing it falsely is what audits look for.
You attest to all of this at renewal and keep documentation in case Delaware audits you.
The cycle runs on a staggered odd-year schedule
Delaware renews RN licenses every two years, and the expiration lands on one of three dates, February 28, May 31, or September 30, in odd-numbered years, depending on your license. That staggering means your renewal date isn’t shared with every other Delaware nurse, so confirm your own in DELPROS rather than assuming a single statewide deadline.
The fee
Delaware collects the renewal fee through DELPROS, and the Board’s own fee schedule declines to name a number: it says only that you are notified of the amount at the time of renewal. Third-party guides quote figures ranging from $135 to $170, and none of them is the Board speaking. Check the amount in DELPROS when you renew, it’s shown before you pay. That’s why the fee line above reads “not published.” One figure the Board does publish: file after your expiration date and the late fee is 50 percent of whatever the renewal fee turns out to be.
Delaware is a compact state
Delaware implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact on January 19, 2018. If Delaware is your primary state of residence, your RN license can be a multistate license, letting you practice in the other compact states without applying separately in each. That matters in the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Baltimore corridor, where a Delaware nurse with a multistate license reaches into Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New Jersey. The privilege follows your legal residence, so it holds as long as Delaware stays home. Use the compact checker below to see exactly which states a Delaware license reaches.
Add your renewal deadline to your calendar
Enter your expiration date and download a calendar file. Your own calendar will remind you at 90, 60, 30, and 7 days out. We don't ask for your email, we store nothing, and the date never leaves your device.
Works with Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, and Outlook. This is a convenience, not a compliance service. Confirm your exact deadline with the Delaware Board of Nursing (Division of Professional Regulation).
How many CE hours do you have left?
Delaware requires 30 CE hours this cycle. Enter what you've completed and see what's left. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
Hours alone aren't the whole requirement. Some must be these specific topics:
- Substance abuse (3 of the 30 hours, every renewal)
- Recognizing and responding to abuse, exploitation, trafficking, or domestic violence of vulnerable persons (1 hr, every renewal)
A convenience, not a compliance service. Confirm your exact requirement with the Delaware Board of Nursing (Division of Professional Regulation). This is not legal advice.
Continuing education hours per renewal cycle
Delaware asks for 30 hours. That is exactly the median of 30 across the 37 states that set a flat hour count, which run from 8 to 40. Ranked lowest to highest, Delaware is 21 of 37.
Each mark is one state. The taller line is the median, the filled dot is Delaware. States that set no flat hour count, or publish no fee, are left out of that comparison rather than counted as zero.
Where can you practice with your license?
The Nurse Licensure Compact lets a nurse who lives in a compact state hold one multistate license and practice in every other compact state. Pick where you live to see whether that's you, and where it reaches.
Member data from the NCSBN Nurse Licensure Compact map, verified July 2026. A multistate license requires the compact state to be your primary residence. This is a convenience, not legal advice. Confirm your status with your board or at nursecompact.com.