PMHNP Continuing Education Requirements and License Renewal, by State
A psychiatric nurse practitioner renews a stack of credentials, each on its own clock: the state RN license, the APRN license, in some states a controlled substance registration, the ANCC board certification, and the DEA registration. A lapse at any layer stops prescribing. Here is what each state requires, sourced from the board itself. Pick your state to see its hours, topics, deadline, and the board source.
Every tile opens that state’s PMHNP requirements page. All 50 states and DC covered, 10 to 80 hours per cycle. Most recent board check October 2026.
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All 50 states
- Alabama
- Alaska
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- District of Columbia
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- Hawaii
- Idaho
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- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
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- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
How PMHNP requirements compare across states
Hours, cycle, and ethics minimums differ from board to board. 5 featured states are below, and the full table covers every state we track. Every row links to the board-sourced page for that state.
| State | Total hours | Cycle | Ethics | Other topic minimums |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 30 | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | – |
| Texas | – | 2 years, renews at the end of your birth month | – | 5 pharmacology, 3 controlled substance prescribing |
| Ohio | 24 | 2 years, renewal due September 15 of odd years | – | 12 pharmacology |
| New York | – | 3 years, renews at the end of your birth month | – | – |
| Florida | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | 3 controlled substance prescribing, 2 human trafficking |
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| State | Total hours | Cycle | Ethics | Other topic minimums |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 24 | 2 years, due by December 31 of your renewal year | – | 6 pharmacology |
| Alaska | – | 2 years, renews by November 30 of even years | – | 2 pain management and opioid use and addiction (aprns with a DEA registration) |
| Arizona | – | 4 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | 3 substance use disorders |
| Arkansas | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | 5 pharmacology, 2 professional boundaries and arkansas APRN prescribing rules and laws (ASBN course "advanced practice nursing in arkansas") |
| Colorado | – | 2 years, renews by September 30 of your renewal year | – | 2 substance use prevention training (opioid prescribing, benzodiazepines, substance use disorders, PDMP) |
| Connecticut | 50 | 2 years, renews at the end of your birth month | – | 5 pharmacology, 1 infectious diseases, including AIDS and HIV, 1 risk management, 1 sexual assault, 1 domestic violence, 1 cultural competency, 1 substance abuse, including prescribing controlled substances and pain management |
| Delaware | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | – |
| District of Columbia | – | 2 years, renews at the end of your birth month | – | 15 APRN continuing education in pharmacology |
| Georgia | – | 2 years, due by January 31 of your renewal year | – | 1 appropriate ordering and use of hydrocodone and oxycodone (protocol schedule II authority) |
| Hawaii | 30 | 2 years, renews by June 30 of odd years | – | 8 pharmacology |
| Idaho | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | – |
| Illinois | 80 | 2 years, due by May 31 of even years | – | 20 pharmacology, 10 opioid prescribing or substance abuse education (within pharmacotherapeutics), 1 sexual harassment prevention, 1 implicit bias |
| Indiana | 30 | 2 years, due by October 31 of odd years | – | 8 pharmacology |
| Iowa | – | 3 years, renews at the end of your birth month | – | 2 CDC guideline for prescribing opioids for chronic pain (opioid prescribers) |
| Kansas | 30 | 2 years, renews at the end of your birth month | – | – |
| Kentucky | – | 1 year, due by October 31 each year | – | 5 pharmacology, 3 pharmacology hours on pain management or addiction disorders (3 of the 5) |
| Louisiana | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | – |
| Maine | 50 | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | 3 prescribing of opioid medication (category I) |
| Maryland | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | – |
| Massachusetts | 15 | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | – |
| Michigan | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | 2 implicit bias |
| Minnesota | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | – |
| Mississippi | – | 2 years, due by December 31 of even years | – | 5 controlled substances (rule 1.2(B)(9)) |
| Missouri | – | 2 years, renews by April 30 of odd years | – | – |
| Montana | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | – |
| Nebraska | – | 2 years, due by October 31 of even years | – | 3 prescribing opiates (including one-half hour on the nebraska prescription drug monitoring program) |
| Nevada | 30 | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | 4 cultural competency, 2 substance use disorders |
| New Hampshire | 30 | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | 5 pharmacology, 3 pain management and addiction disorder (aprns with a DEA registration) |
| New Jersey | 30 | 2 years, due by May 31 of your renewal year | – | 2 end of life care, 1 prescription opioid drugs |
| New Mexico | – | 2 years, renews at the end of your birth month | – | 5 pain management |
| North Carolina | 50 | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | – |
| North Dakota | – | 2 years, due by December 31 of your renewal year | – | 15 pharmacotherapy related to the scope of practice (prescriptive authority) |
| Oklahoma | – | 2 years, renews at the end of your birth month | – | 15 pharmacotherapeutics (prescriptive authority renewal), 2 pain management, or opioid use or addiction (DEA registrants) |
| Oregon | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | – |
| Pennsylvania | 30 | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | 16 pharmacology, 2 child abuse recognition and reporting, 2 pain management |
| Rhode Island | 10 | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | 2 substance abuse |
| South Carolina | – | 2 years, renews by April 30 of even years | – | 20 pharmacotherapeutics (prescriptive authority renewal), 2 prescribing controlled substances (two of the twenty pharmacotherapeutics hours) |
| South Dakota | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | – |
| Tennessee | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | 2 controlled substance prescribing practices (tennessee treatment guidelines on opioids, benzodiazepines, barbiturates and carisoprodol) |
| Utah | – | 2 years, renews by January 31 of even years | – | – |
| Vermont | – | 2 years, renews by March 31 of odd years | – | 2 controlled substances (abuse and diversion, safe use and disposal, VPMS, risk assessment, opioid alternatives, tapering, state and federal law) |
| Virginia | – | 2 years, renews on your license expiration date | – | 8 pharmacology or pharmacotherapeutics |
| Washington | 30 | 2 years, renews at the end of your birth month | – | 15 pharmacology |
| West Virginia | 24 | 2 years, due by June 30 of odd years | – | 12 pharmacology |
| Wisconsin | 16 | 2 years, due by February 28 of even years | – | 16 clinical pharmacology or therapeutics relevant to the aprn's area of practice, 2 responsible prescribing of controlled substances (within the 16 pharmacology hours) |
| Wyoming | – | 2 years, due by December 31 of even years | – | 3 responsible prescribing of controlled substances or treatment of substance use disorders |
Hours are per renewal cycle, not per year. A dash means the published rule states no figure. Ethics counts within the total wherever the state page says so.
The national credentials every PMHNP renews
Your state pages cover the RN license, the APRN license and any state controlled substance registration. These two renew on the same terms wherever you practice, each on its own date.
- PMHNP-BCPsychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Board Certified
- DEADEA RegistrationDEA · Triennial
No recurring CE hours, but a one-time training applies.
- One-time requirement of "a total of eight hours of training on the treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders" (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, § 1263; 21 U.S.C. 823(g)). The hours may be split across sessions and formats and may have been completed at any time, including before June 27, 2023. Training counts from accredited providers named in the Act (ASAM, AAAP, AOAAM, APNA, AAPA, AMA, AOA, ANA and other ACCME or ANCC-accredited bodies). Practitioners board-certified in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry, and graduates of a US advanced practice nursing, medical, dental or physician assistant program within five years of June 27, 2023 whose curriculum included at least eight such hours, are deemed to have met it. (8 hours, one time).
PMHNP continuing education: frequently asked
What credentials does a PMHNP have to renew?
Up to five, each on its own date: the state RN license, the state APRN license, a state controlled substance registration in the states that issue one, the ANCC PMHNP-BC certification (every 5 years), and the DEA registration (triennial). A lapse at any of them stops prescribing. Each state page lists the layers that state issues.
How many CE hours do psychiatric nurse practitioners need?
The ANCC certification renewal asks for 75 contact hours every 5 years, 25 of them in pharmacology. State APRN rules differ widely: some set no hour total for a certified NP, others up to 80 hours per cycle, and several accept the national certification toward their own requirement. Open your state for its exact figures.
Do states require pharmacology CE for PMHNPs?
19 of the 51 jurisdictions we cover set a pharmacology minimum for the APRN license, and many also require controlled substance or opioid prescribing hours of prescribers. Your state page lists the exact figures.
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