Updated for 2026

Nevada LCSW & LISW Continuing Education Requirements

Nevada clinical social workers must complete 36 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their LCSW / LISW license, including 4 hours of ethics, 12 hours of field of practice, and 6 hours of cultural diversity equity inclusion.

36hours every 2 years
Topic minimums, counted within the 36
12field of practice
6cultural diversity equity inclusion
4ethics

The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.

What the board saysNevada board rule
during each reporting period: … (b) A licensee who is a licensed clinical social worker or licensed independent social worker must complete at least 36 hours1 of continuing education, of which: (1) Four hours must relate to ethics2 in the practice of social work, including, without limitation, issues addressing professional boundaries, confidentiality, dual relationships, documentation, billing, fraud, telehealth, supervision … (3) Unless otherwise approved by the Board, 12 hours must be in the field of practice3 of the licensee.
What it means
  1. 36 hours each reporting period (every 2 years)
  2. 4 hours of social work ethics
  3. 12 hours in your field of practice
NAC 641B.187Last verified October 2026Ruleset 2026.4How we verify
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Requirements

Nevada LCSW & LISW requirements

Total

36 hoursYou need 36 hours every 2 years. The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.

Topic minimums, counted within the 36

The remaining 14 hours are not tied to a topic minimum.
Field of Practice
12
You need 12 hours each cycle.
Cultural Diversity Equity Inclusion
6
You need 6 hours each cycle.
Ethics
4
You need 4 hours each cycle.

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.
New licensees
Your first continuing-education reporting period runs from initial licensure through your second renewal deadline. At that second renewal, NAC 641B.186-.188 require the full 36 hours earned during that first reporting period; the first renewal does not end or erase the period.
Approved providers
CE must be earned from a board-approved provider.
Your hours

Check where you stand

Enter the hours you have completed this cycle to see what is left before your renewal.

Your result appears here as you enter hours.

Open the full LCSW CE hours calculator

Also hold a Nevada LPC or LMFT license? Each board runs its own CE cycle. See the Nevada LPC and Nevada LMFT requirements.

Nevada LCSW & LISW required trainings and mandates

Beyond the 36-hour CE total, Nevada requires specific trainings. Some are due once around initial licensure, and others run on their own recurring schedule.

Recurring mandates outside the 2-year cycle

  • Per NRS 641B.282, clinical social workers must report at each renewal their training in the treatment of mental and emotional trauma immediately following an emergency or disaster (short-term and long-term trauma) and their willingness to respond. This is a reporting requirement only; no specific hours are mandated and it does not count toward CE totals.
Full board policy details
  • Nevada imposes no fixed cap or percentage on self-study/home-study courses. NAC 641B.189 allows any combination of approved activities, including live or recorded workshops/conferences, live-interactive online presentations, online courses with verification, publication authorship, one-time presentations, accredited academic courses, and Board-sponsored events. There is no minimum live/in-person hour requirement. Live-interactive internet courses are treated as workshops/conferences via electronic means, not as self-study. Online courses must include some verification/exam to be accepted.
  • COURSE REPEAT RESTRICTIONS: Per NAC 641B.187(4), a licensee may not take a program of continuing education which presents the same material as a program taken during the immediately preceding reporting period. In effect, the same CE content cannot be repeated within a four-year window.
  • INSTRUCTOR CREDIT: Per NAC 641B.189(1)(d), a licensee may claim credit for a one-time presentation (e.g., teaching a course, workshop, or seminar) once, for up to 15 hours. Teaching the same course again in a later cycle would violate the no-repeat rule unless the content is substantively different.
  • LICENSE STATUS RULES, Inactive: Licensees may place their license on inactive status under NRS 641B.295 if not practicing. While inactive, no CE is required. The Board permits inactive status for up to 5 years without CE.
  • LICENSE STATUS RULES, Reactivation: To reactivate from inactive status, the licensee must submit a full collection cycle's worth of CEUs (36 hours for LCSW/LISW) before returning to active practice, in addition to other Board requirements.
  • LICENSE STATUS RULES, Retired: A licensee age 60 or over who is retired may request a retirement exception at renewal. This waives all CE requirements except legislatively mandated topics. For renewals through June 30, 2026, those were the 2-hour suicide-prevention and 6-hour cultural-diversity requirements; beginning July 1, 2026, only the 6-hour cultural-diversity, equity, and inclusion requirement remains. The license remains current with the applicable mandated hours plus the renewal fee.
  • CONDITIONAL REGISTRATION: Nevada law and regulations do not provide for a conditional or provisional license pending CE completion. If a licensee fails to complete required CE by renewal, the license becomes delinquent (and then expired if not corrected) per NRS 641B.290.
  • FIRST CYCLE: Per NAC 641B.186, the first reporting period runs from initial licensure through the second renewal deadline. NAC 641B.187 requires the full 36 hours during that first reporting period, and NAC 641B.188 first requires the completion affidavit with the second renewal. The intervening first annual renewal does not waive or restart the reporting period.
  • APPROVED PROVIDERS: Per NAC 641B.187(2) and NAC 641B.189, all CE hours must be from Board-approved programs. Courses are automatically deemed approved if offered by NASW, ASWB, any state board under chapters 641–641D, or a nationally recognized behavioral-health association. All other providers must be approved through the Board's process.
  • LEGISLATIVE NOTE: Effective July 1, 2026, the revised NRS 641B.280 omits the 2-hour suicide prevention training requirement, leaving only the 6-hour cultural diversity requirement as a statutory mandate every 2 years. The Board is expected to amend NAC accordingly.
  • NRS 641B.282 REPORTING: Clinical social workers must report at each renewal their training in the treatment of mental and emotional trauma (short-term and long-term) following an emergency or disaster, and their willingness to respond. This is a reporting datapoint only and does not count toward the CE total or impose specific training hours.

Nevada LCSW & LISW CE: frequently asked questions

How many CE hours do Nevada LCSW / LISW licensees need?

Nevada requires 36 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a LCSW / LISW license. The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.

How many ethics hours are required for Nevada LCSW / LISW licensees?

Of the total, 4 hours must be in ethics.

How often do Nevada LCSW / LISW licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.

Are there subject-specific CE requirements for Nevada LCSW / LISW licensees?

Yes. In addition to ethics, Nevada requires 12 hours of field of practice, 6 hours of cultural diversity equity inclusion.

Is the first renewal different for new Nevada LCSW / LISW licensees?

Your first continuing-education reporting period runs from initial licensure through your second renewal deadline. At that second renewal, NAC 641B.186-.188 require the full 36 hours earned during that first reporting period; the first renewal does not end or erase the period.

Sources and verification

State source
Nevada board rule
Profession source
ASWB ACE continuing education guidance
Last verified
October 2026
Ruleset version
2026.4

We reviewed this page against the Nevada board source, and we refresh it from the compiled ruleset above. Methodology and disclaimer. Compliance data is for guidance only, not legal or board advice. Always confirm requirements with your licensing board before renewing. See something wrong? Report it

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Nevada guides & data

What to keep for a CE audit →Learn what boards ask for in a CE audit, how long each state says to keep certificates, and what the notice looks like, then use the printable checklist.Nevada mental health workforce data →11,493 active providers, or 350.2 per 100,000 residents, ranked 36 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Nevada CE requirement pages

Nevada LPCNevada LMFTNevada PsychologistNevada Addiction CounselorNevada PMHNP

LCSW CE requirements in other states