To get a nurse practitioner license in Delaware, you need an active registered nurse license, a graduate degree from an accredited advanced practice nursing program, and current national certification in your APRN role and population focus. You apply to the Delaware Board of Nursing, pay a $181 fee, and complete a fingerprint-based criminal background check. Delaware nurse practitioner license requirements are set entirely by the Board of Nursing, which has exclusive licensing authority over APRN practice in the state.1Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code Title 24, Chapter 19 – Nursing
Education and National Certification
Your graduate program must be accredited by a national accrediting body, and you must hold current certification from a recognized certifying agency in the role and population you intend to practice. The Board recognizes several, including the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board, the National Certification Corporation, and the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.2Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Delaware Administrative Code 24-1900-8.0 – Rules and Regulations Governing the Practice of Nursing as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Your certification has to stay current throughout your Delaware licensure. National recertification runs on its own cycle with its own continuing education requirements, separate from state renewal. The AANPCB, for example, requires 100 contact hours of advanced CE for recertification, including at least 25 hours in pharmacology.
Your RN License and the Compact
You need a valid RN license before the Board will issue an APRN license. Delaware participates in the Nurse Licensure Compact for RN and LPN licenses, so a multistate RN license from any compact state satisfies this piece.3Division of Professional Regulation. Multistate Licensure
The compact does not extend to APRN practice. If you already hold an APRN license in another state, that credential does not let you practice as a nurse practitioner in Delaware. You need a Delaware-issued APRN license regardless.3Division of Professional Regulation. Multistate Licensure
Application Fee and Background Check
The application fee is $181.4Division of Professional Regulation. Fee Schedule Every applicant also has to complete a criminal background check through digital fingerprinting with IdentoGO. The paper authorization process was retired in 2023.5Division of Professional Regulation. Criminal Background Check Process
What Your License Lets You Do: Full Practice Authority
Delaware grants full practice authority the moment you receive your APRN license. You can evaluate patients, diagnose conditions, order and interpret diagnostic tests, initiate and manage treatments, and prescribe medications within your role and population focus. There’s no requirement for a collaborative agreement with a physician, as long as you work within a healthcare organization, hospital, physician practice, or similar clinical setting.2Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Delaware Administrative Code 24-1900-8.0 – Rules and Regulations Governing the Practice of Nursing as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Independent Practice Is a Separate Pathway
If you want to practice and prescribe outside the employment of an established healthcare organization or physician practice, you need separate approval from the APRN Committee and the Board of Nursing. The requirements are substantial:
- At least two years and a minimum of 4,000 full-time hours of practice within a hospital or integrated clinical setting.
- A collaborating physician or healthcare system working in an area related to your education, certification, and planned independent practice.
- Written evidence that you and your collaborator met the competency benchmarks established by the Board.
The two-year clock does not start until your collaborative agreement is submitted to the Committee and Board.6Delaware General Assembly. 80 Delaware Laws Chapter 172 – Act Amending Title 24 of the Delaware Code If you’re planning to open your own practice eventually, submit that agreement as early as possible.
Prescribing Controlled Substances
Delaware Code Section 1935 authorizes APRNs to prescribe, procure, administer, store, dispense, and furnish controlled substances within their role and population focus.7Justia. Delaware Code 24-1935 – Advanced Practice Registered Nurse State authority is only part of what you need. To actually prescribe any controlled substance, you also need federal registration with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Apply online through the DEA’s website or request a paper application from the DEA Headquarters Registration Unit at 800-882-9539.8Drug Enforcement Administration Diversion Control Division. Opioid Use Disorder – MATE Act Q and A
Since June 2023, every DEA registrant must complete at least eight hours of training on treating patients with opioid or other substance use disorders under the Medication Access and Training Expansion Act. It’s a one-time requirement, attested to when you apply or renew. If you graduated from an accredited advanced practice nursing program within five years of June 27, 2023, and your curriculum already included at least eight hours on substance use disorder treatment, you may already satisfy it.9Drug Enforcement Administration. MATE Training Letter
Any practitioner with a valid Delaware controlled substance registration also has to register with the Delaware Prescription Monitoring Program under Title 16, Section 4798.10Justia. Delaware Code 16-4798 – The Delaware Prescription Monitoring Program Registration is mandatory. You may only look up profiles for patients you are currently or prospectively treating.11Division of Professional Regulation. Frequently Asked Questions – Prescription Monitoring Program
Renewal and Continuing Education
Your APRN license expires on the same date as your Delaware RN license. If you don’t hold a Delaware RN license, because you’re relying on a multistate compact RN license from another state, your APRN license expires on September 30 of odd-numbered years. Either way, renewal is required every two years.12Division of Professional Regulation. License Renewal
Each renewal cycle requires 30 contact hours of continuing education, with at least three of those hours in substance abuse education. Those substance abuse hours can double as the contact hours you need to maintain your controlled substance registration. CE must be accredited by a provider recognized by the Board.
Track your state renewal hours and your national recertification hours as two separate obligations from the start of each cycle. They don’t align, and the national requirement is larger.
Keeping Prescriptive Authority
The Board can restrict or revoke prescriptive authority separately from your underlying license.13Justia. Delaware Code 24-1906 – Delaware Board of Nursing Powers and Duties You could keep the APRN license and still lose the ability to prescribe. Discipline can also run from a formal reprimand up to full license revocation.14Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Delaware Administrative Code 24-1900-10.0 – Disciplinary Proceedings If you ever receive notice of a Board complaint, get legal representation before you respond.