Your PCCN renewal, punched.
A PCCN renews every 3 years. Put in your renewal date, punch in your 100 Synergy CERPs by category, tick off your 432 practice hours, and put the date on your calendar. Or keep the practice hours and retake the exam. Free, no sign-up, and it all stays on this phone.
Your PCCN
The next date, years on. The board renews on this cycle but hasn't posted this date yet; check the AACN renewal.
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Your courses
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Keep it safe
Everything here lives in this browser on this device. Nothing is sent to us or anyone else. Keep CERP records for 3 years after your renewal date. Back it up before you switch phones or clear your browser.
How to renew
- Pick your path. Renewal by Synergy CERPs: the practice hours plus 100 CERPs. Renewal by exam: the practice hours plus passing the PCCN exam. Both need the practice hours.
- Work the practice hours: 432 as an RN or APRN in direct care of acutely ill adult patients during the 3-year period, 144 of them in the 12 months before your renewal date. Managers, educators, APRNs and preceptors can count bedside supervision.
- Earn 100 CERPs in the 3 years: at least 60 in Category A, 10 in B, 10 in C, and 20 more in any category. Category A tops out at 80, B and C at 30. One hour of education is 1 CERP.
- Renew online at aacn.org/certification > Renew Certification, up to 4 months before your date. You'll name a verifier for your hours. Renewing by exam? Apply no later than 30 days before your date.
- Keep your records 3 years. AACN audits at random after you renew. If you're picked, you have 60 days to send a license copy, your CERP log, CERP documentation and the hours verification form.
| Fee (PCCN renewal handbook) | AACN member | Nonmember |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal by Synergy CERPs | $150 | $230 |
| Renewal by exam | $185 | $290 |
| Inactive status | $95 | $175 |
Renewal fees are for processing and are nonrefundable. All fees: the PCCN Renewal Handbook.
If you miss your date
- 90-day grace period. Handbook: "You have up to 90 days beyond your certification expiration date to renew". CERPs and practice hours can't be earned in those 90 days; they have to fall inside your 3-year period.
- Short on hours or CERPs? Inactive status gives you up to 3 years from your renewal date to meet them. You can't use the PCCN credential while inactive, and you can't hold it two renewal periods in a row.
- Renewing by exam and don't pass? You can't switch to CERPs; you meet initial exam eligibility and apply to retake it.
Where every number comes from
- Every 3 years, 432 hours with 144 in the last year, 100 CERPs by category, fees, 4-month window, exam deadline, 90-day grace, Inactive, audit: AACN: PCCN Renewal Handbook, Direct Care, July 2026 (PDF)
- Renewal emails start 4 months out; you renew even without one: AACN: Certification Exam Policy Handbook (PDF)
- Online renewal: AACN: Renew Certification
Checked November 11, 2026.
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