Virginia Nurse Practitioner (APRN) Requirements 2026
Virginia licenses nurse practitioners as Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) through a joint process administered by the Board of Nursing and Board of Medicine. You need a current Virginia RN license, a graduate degree in an NP specialty, and national certification. As of July 1, 2024, APRNs with three or more years of clinical experience can apply for full practice authority.
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Virginia’s nurse practitioners hold licensure as Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs), a designation the Virginia General Assembly formally adopted in 2023 to align with the national APRN Consensus Model. The title “Licensed Nurse Practitioner” (LNP) remains in use in some contexts, but the Board’s current applicant documentation and licensing process uses APRN throughout. The Board of Nursing and Board of Medicine exercise joint oversight through a Committee of the Joint Boards, which administers the regulations governing APRN licensure and practice.
Use the links below to jump to specific requirements, application steps, and renewal information.
- APRN Roles and Specialties in Virginia
- Education Requirements
- National Certification
- Practice Authority and Practice Agreements
- Prescriptive Authority
- Provisional Licensure
- Out-of-State APRNs
- How to Apply
- Renewal Requirements
- Clinical Nurse Specialist Requirements
APRN Roles and Specialties in Virginia
Virginia recognizes four APRN roles: nurse practitioner (NP), certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), certified nurse midwife (CNM), and clinical nurse specialist (CNS). The CRNA and CNM roles are treated as categories of the APRN license rather than separate credentials.
APRN licensure in Virginia is specialty-specific. Licenses are issued with a population focus designation, and applicants must hold national certification in a specialty area that aligns with their graduate education. The current specialty designations available to new applicants are:
- Family nurse practitioner
- Adult/geriatric primary care nurse practitioner
- Adult/geriatric acute care nurse practitioner
- Psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner
- Women’s health nurse practitioner
- Pediatric primary care nurse practitioner
- Pediatric acute care nurse practitioner
- Neonatal nurse practitioner
- Certified registered nurse anesthetist
- Certified nurse midwife
The Committee of the Joint Boards may consider additional specialties when they meet the criteria set out in state regulation.
Education Requirements
Applicants for APRN licensure must hold a graduate degree in nursing designed to prepare advanced practice registered nurses. The program must be accredited by an organization acceptable to the Joint Committee. Currently accepted accrediting bodies are:
- American College of Nurse Midwives
- Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)
- Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)
- Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs
The Board may also approve programs affiliated with schools of nursing or offered jointly by schools of nursing and medicine when they meet minimum standards, including acceptable accreditation and the issuance of a graduate degree.
National Certification
Full licensure as a Virginia APRN requires national certification in the specialty area corresponding to your graduate education. The Board accepts certification from agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or accepted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Currently accepted agencies include:
- American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB)
- American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Certification Corporation (AACN)
- American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB)
- American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)
- National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA)
- National Certification Corporation (NCC)
- Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB)
Certification must be examination-based, and the certifying agency must require completion of an accredited program as a condition of eligibility. The Joint Committee has the authority to approve additional agencies that meet these criteria.
Practice Authority and Practice Agreements
Virginia has moved incrementally toward full practice authority for APRNs. The current framework depends on clinical experience: how you practice in Virginia depends on how long you’ve been practicing.
APRNs with fewer than 4,500 clinical practice hours (the equivalent of three years of full-time practice) must enter into a practice agreement with a patient care team physician. That agreement defines the collaborative scope of practice, including prescriptive authority when applicable.
APRNs with 4,500 or more clinical hours, which the Board treats as equivalent to three years of full-time experience, became eligible to apply for autonomous practice designation effective July 1, 2024. That change came from HB 971, signed by Governor Youngkin in 2024, which reduced the transition-to-practice requirement from five years to three. APRNs practicing autonomously don’t need a physician practice agreement for day-to-day patient care.
CRNAs, CNMs, and CNSs are not eligible for the autonomous practice pathway under this provision. It applies to NPs only. The Board of Nursing processes autonomous practice applications separately from initial licensure.
Virginia also enacted a 2024 provision to address continuity of care: an APRN who already holds a practice agreement may continue seeing patients under that agreement if the collaborating physician is no longer able to serve, provided the APRN follows specific procedures set out in Virginia Code section 54.1-2957(G).
Prescriptive Authority
A Virginia APRN who holds current national certification can apply for prescriptive authority. There are three qualifying pathways:
A graduate pharmacology course from an NP program taken within the previous five years qualifies. The Board looks for one academic course or 30 contact hours of pharmacology or pharmacotherapeutics education.
Recent practice plus continuing education also qualifies. The Board requires 1,000 hours of NP practice and 15 hours of continuing education related to the practice area, for each of the two years immediately prior to the application.
Alternatively, 30 contact hours of pharmacology or pharmacotherapeutics education taken within the past five years qualify, whether or not taken for academic credit. These hours may be obtained as a discrete or non-credit continuing education offering.
APRNs who hold prescriptive authority must complete at least eight hours of pharmacology or pharmacotherapeutics continuing education during each two-year renewal period. Beginning June 27, 2023, DEA-registered practitioners must also complete eight hours of training on treating patients with opioid or other substance use disorders as a one-time requirement at their next DEA registration or renewal. Prescriptive authority qualification pathways are set by Joint Board regulation and can change; confirm the current requirements with the Virginia Board of Nursing before applying.
Provisional Licensure
APRN applicants who have completed their educational requirements but haven’t yet sat for the national certification exam can apply for a provisional license. A provisional license authorizes practice until one of three things happens: the applicant is awarded permanent licensure, receives notification of exam failure, or six months elapse, whichever comes first.
To apply for a provisional license, the certifying agency must submit documentation of examination eligibility directly to the Virginia Board of Nursing.
Out-of-State APRNs
An NP licensed in another state can apply for Virginia APRN licensure by endorsement, provided national certification is current. The out-of-state license must be in good standing or have lapsed while in good standing. Endorsement applicants must provide evidence of national certification in a specialty consistent with their graduate education.
Virginia participates in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), which covers RN licensure. APRN licensure is not included in the NLC compact, so out-of-state APRNs who want to practice in Virginia must obtain a Virginia APRN license directly.
How to Apply for Virginia APRN Licensure
Initial APRN licensure applications are submitted online through the Virginia Department of Health Professions at dhp.virginia.gov. Applicants will need to provide:
- Evidence of a current Virginia RN license or multistate RN privilege
- Official graduate transcripts from an accredited NP program
- Verification of national certification in the appropriate specialty
- Completed the application form and payment
The application fee for initial APRN licensure was $125 at the time of publication. Verify the current fee through the Virginia Board of Nursing fee schedule before submitting, as fees are subject to change.
If you want to add additional specialty designations to an existing APRN license, you can’t use the online application. Contact the Board of Nursing directly through the Board’s contact page to confirm the current process before applying.
Renewal Requirements
Virginia APRN licenses renew every two years, expiring at the end of the licensee’s birth month. Renewal requires evidence of current national certification in the specialty area. APRNs who were licensed before the certification requirement took effect may instead submit evidence of continuing education.
For continuing education, APRNs must complete 40 contact hours in the specialty area per renewal period, or maintain current certification through their certifying agency’s recertification requirements. APRNs with prescriptive authority must complete an additional eight hours of pharmacology continuing education per renewal period.
APRNs licensed in another compact state must also provide evidence of continued RN licensure in that state at renewal.
Clinical Nurse Specialist Requirements
Clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) are not classified as nurse practitioners under Virginia law, but they hold APRN licensure and are regulated under the same joint Board framework. CNSs must complete a graduate-level clinical nurse specialist program and obtain national CNS certification.
CNS applicants apply online for Virginia registration through the Board of Nursing’s applicant portal. Requirements parallel those for NP licensure: graduate education in a nursing specialty, followed by national certification in that specialty.
Find nursing licensure requirements by state for RNs, LPNs, LVNs, and advanced practice nurses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between APRN and LNP in Virginia?
They refer to the same credential. Virginia statute formally replaced “nurse practitioner” with “advanced practice registered nurse” (APRN) in 2023 to align with the national APRN Consensus Model. The title “Licensed Nurse Practitioner” (LNP) still appears in some older regulatory contexts, but the Board’s current licensing documentation and application process uses APRN throughout. New applicants receive APRN licensure.
Can Virginia nurse practitioners practice without a physician agreement?
Yes, but only after meeting an experience threshold. As of July 1, 2024, NPs with at least 4,500 clinical hours (three years of full-time equivalent practice) can apply for autonomous practice designation, which removes the practice agreement requirement. NPs with fewer than 4,500 hours must maintain a practice agreement with a patient care team physician. CRNAs, CNMs, and CNSs are not eligible for autonomous practice under this provision.
Does Virginia participate in the APRN compact?
No. Virginia participates in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) for RN licensure, but APRN licensure is not covered by the NLC. Out-of-state APRNs who want to practice in Virginia must apply for a Virginia APRN license directly, either through initial licensure or by endorsement if they hold a current, good-standing license in another state.
What education is required to become an NP in Virginia?
Virginia requires a graduate degree, either an MSN or a DNP, from a program accredited by CCNE, ACEN, the American College of Nurse-Midwives, or the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs. The program must be in your intended specialty area. You’ll also need a current Virginia RN license before applying for APRN licensure.
How often does a Virginia APRN license need to be renewed?
Virginia APRN licenses renew every two years, expiring at the end of the licensee’s birth month. Renewal requires proof of current national certification or, for those licensed before the certification requirement took effect, evidence of continuing education. APRNs with prescriptive authority must also document eight hours of pharmacology CE per renewal cycle.
Key Takeaways
- Joint Board oversight — Virginia APRN licensure is administered by a Committee of the Joint Boards of Nursing and Medicine, not the Board of Nursing alone.
- Graduate degree plus certification required — You need a master’s or doctoral degree in your NP specialty from an accredited program, plus national certification in that specialty area.
- Full practice authority available since July 1, 2024 — NPs with 4,500 or more clinical hours (three years equivalent) can apply to practice without a physician practice agreement.
- Specialty-specific licensure — Virginia issues APRN licenses with a population focus designation. Your certification must match your graduate education specialty.
- APRN compact not applicable — Virginia participates in the RN Nurse Licensure Compact, but out-of-state APRNs must obtain a separate Virginia APRN license to practice in the state.
Find accredited NP programs in Virginia and compare MSN and DNP options by specialty, format, and location.