Updated for 2026

Alaska PMHNP Continuing Education Requirements

Here's what a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) must complete to renew in Alaska.

These are the Alaska APRN license requirements for a board-certified PMHNP who prescribes controlled substances. Your RN license, ANCC certification and DEA registration renew separately; see every credential.

Topic minimums
2pain management and opioid use and addiction (aprns with a DEA registration)

Next deadline: November 30, 2026The renewal cycle is biennial, and the license renews by November 30 of even years.

Where this comes from
State source
Alaska board rule
Last verified
October 2026
Ruleset version
2026.3

Every figure on this page is read from this rule, and the page refreshes when the ruleset changes. How we verify

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Requirements

Alaska PMHNP requirements

Topic minimums

Pain management and opioid use and addiction (APRNs with a DEA registration)
2
You need 2 hours each cycle.

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is biennial, and the license renews by November 30 of even years.
Renewal fee
The board renewal fee is $100 every 2 years.
Approved providers
For the RN continuing-education option, "at least 20 of the contact hours" must come from a program provided "under the accreditation standards established or followed by" the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education ("courses with a 'P' designation"), "a nurse practitioner certifying body" or "a nurse anesthetist certifying body", or by a Board-approved sponsor (12 AAC 44.610(a)(1)); "no more than 10 of the contact hours" may be in-service education from a licensed health care facility that does not meet those standards ((a)(2)); and the hours must fall in a listed subject area: nursing practice and special health care problems, biological, physical or behavioral sciences, legal or ethical aspects of health care, management or administration, or advanced subjects from a formal nursing program ((a)(3)). Internet, video, printed and independent study count when "accredited by an agency that is approved by a national certifying body" (44.610(b)). "The board will not accept continuing education contact hours or in-service hours for the completion of courses in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or basic life support (BLS)", but ACLS, PALS and "other advanced courses" count (44.610(d)). A contact hour is "a minimum of 50 minutes of actual organized instruction"; one quarter academic credit equals 10 contact hours and one semester credit 15 (44.610(c)(1)). The APRN's two pain-management hours name no provider. Hours count for "the two years before the licensing period for which the applicant seeks renewal", December 1 of an even year through November 30 two years later.
Recordkeeping
Keep CE documentation for 4 years after each course's completion date.
Board audit
The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
Late renewal
A late renewal adds a late fee.

To keep your proof in order, see what to keep for a CE audit, which covers every state’s retention period and what the audit notice asks for.

Credential stack

Every credential an Alaska PMHNP renews

Each one renews on its own date, and a lapse at any of them stops prescribing. The ANCC certification and DEA registration are the same in every state.

  1. APRNAdvanced Practice Registered Nurse
    Alaska · Biennial

    2 hours of pain management and opioid use and addiction (aprns with a DEA registration) every 2 years.

    Requirements above
  2. RNRegistered Nurse
    Alaska · Biennial

    No CE hours to renew.

    Requirements above
  3. CSRState Controlled Substance Registration
    Alaska

    Alaska does not issue a separate CSR.

  4. PMHNP-BCPsychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Board Certified
    ANCC · Every 5 years

    75 CE hours every 5 years, including 25 hours of pharmacology.

    PMHNP-BC renewal requirements
  5. DEADEA Registration
    DEA · Triennial

    No recurring CE hours, but a one-time training applies.

    DEA renewal requirements
Your hours

Check where you stand

Enter the hours you have completed this cycle to see what is left before November 30, 2026.

Your result appears here as you enter hours.

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

Full board policy details
  • RN continuing competency is a menu, not a fixed CE total. "Before a license can be renewed each biennial period, a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse must document either (1) compliance with 12 AAC 44.640; or (2) completion of two of the following three methods for maintaining continuing competency: (A) continuing education as prescribed under 12 AAC 44.610; (B) professional activities as prescribed under 12 AAC 44.620; and (C) nursing employment as prescribed under 12 AAC 44.630" (12 AAC 44.600). The three activities: "at least 30 contact hours of continuing education for renewal of a license or current certification by a national nursing certification body" (12 AAC 44.610(a)(1)); for an RN license on or after December 1, 2020, "at least 30 hours of participation in uncompensated professional activities" such as work with a professional nursing or health-related organization, authoring a health care publication, presenting a paper or conducting nursing research (12 AAC 44.620(a)(6)-(7)); and "at least 320 hours of practice of practical nursing or registered nursing ... during the two years before the licensing period for which the applicant seeks renewal", documented on a Board form with the employer's name (12 AAC 44.630). The alternatives of 12 AAC 44.640 are a Board-approved refresher course, "at least six academic credits" in a nursing degree or certificate program beyond original licensure, or passing the NCLEX after the last renewal. The 2026 renewal form (08-4121, Part III) restates these as Categories 1 to 4 ("320 hours of compensated nursing employment", "30 contact hours of continuing education in nursing", "30 hours of professional nursing activities"). Because CE is optional, the engine carries no total on the RN row; a PMHNP who practices and keeps ANCC renewal hours typically meets the employment and CE items together.
  • APRN renewal rests on national certification, not Alaska hours. The renewal applicant submits "documentation that the applicant (A) holds national certification for each of the roles and population focus areas in which the applicant is seeking renewal; (B) if the applicant is seeking to renew prescriptive authority under 12 AAC 44.440, holds a current national certification that indicates completion of the continuing education mandated by that body, and a completed prescriptive authority renewal application and fee" and "evidence of a current license in good standing to practice as a registered nurse in this state" (12 AAC 44.470(2), (4)); the form says "You must have a current national certification to renew" and, if not, "STOP -- DO NOT RENEW" (08-0081, Part IV). The Board may restrict prescriptive authority for an APRN who has "not maintained current national certification" (12 AAC 44.440(d)(2)). Certification is a condition, not a substitute: there are no Alaska APRN hours for it to replace, so holding `pmhnp bc` changes nothing here, and the certification's own 75 hours are governed by us-pmhnp bc.yaml. The initial-licensure rule adds that an applicant "shall, in the absence of a continuing education requirement of the certifying body, submit documented evidence of having obtained 60 contact hours of continuing education in the population focus of the advanced practice registered nurse every two years" (12 AAC 44.400(a)(4)); ANCC's PMHNP-BC renewal does require CE, so that fallback never reaches this population and is not modeled.
  • Prescriptive authority is part of the APRN license. Legend-drug authority requires "evidence of completion of 15 contact hours of education in advanced pharmacology and clinical management of drug therapy within the two-year period immediately before the date of application" (12 AAC 44.440(b)(2)), a one-time initial condition; controlled-substance authority for schedules II to V is granted on application (12 AAC 44.445(a)), and an applicant who holds a DEA registration must also show "no less than two hours of education in pain management and opioid use and addiction within the two-year period immediately before the date of application" and PDMP registration (44.445(i)). Both authorities "must be renewed biennially with the APRN licensure" (44.440(e)) and renew on the APRN form; renewal of prescriptive authority turns on national certification (44.470(2)(B)), so Alaska has no recurring pharmacology hours. The initial-application hours are not modeled. "Contact hours used for initial licensure as an APRN may not be used again for renewal of the licensure unless the initial licensure is within 180 days of the renewal deadline" (44.440(g)).
  • Opioid and PDMP duties that are not CE. An APRN with controlled substance authority "must register with the controlled substance prescription database under AS 17.30.200(n)" (12 AAC 44.445(d); AS 08.68.100(a)(11)), within 30 days of receiving a DEA number (form 08-4831), check the database before an initial schedule II or III prescription and periodically after (44.445(g)), and observe the seven-day initial opioid supply limit of AS 08.68.705 with a 50 MME daily maximum on an initial opioid prescription (44.445(j)). The renewal form also asks the APRN to confirm the PDMP account's specialty, DEA number and delegates (08-0081, Parts V-VI). None is continuing education, so none is modeled.
  • No state controlled-substance registration. Alaska practitioners prescribe controlled substances on the Board's controlled-substance prescriptive authority (12 AAC 44.445), renewed with the APRN license (44.440(e)), plus the federal DEA registration; the Board of Nursing's "Authorization to Prescribe and Dispense Legend Drugs and Controlled Substances" (form 08-4831) is a one-time application with a $100 or $200 fee, not a separately expiring registration. The PDMP registration of AS 17.30.200(n) ("a practitioner who prescribes, administers, or directly dispenses a schedule II, III, or IV controlled substance under federal law shall register with the database") is a database account. There is no `csr` row in this state; the federal DEA row is us-dea.yaml.
  • First renewal. "A licensee who receives his or her original license in the first year of the renewal period must comply with the continuing competency requirements ... before the first license renewal" and one licensed "in the second year of the renewal period must comply ... before the second license renewal" (12 AAC 44.650); the 2026 form applies it as "My RN license was issued on or after December 1, 2025. I am not required to complete continuing competency activities for this renewal only" (08-4121, Category 5). The RN row has no requirements to waive, so no override is modeled. 12 AAC 44.650 reaches only the competency rules of 44.600 - 44.640; nothing waives the APRN's two pain-management hours at a first renewal.
  • No statewide topic mandates. The nursing statutes and regulations (September 2025 compilation) name no implicit bias, human trafficking, suicide prevention, infection control, ethics, cultural competency or jurisprudence course for RNs or APRNs; the only subject-specific hours are the APRN's two hours of pain management and opioid use and addiction. The RN continuing-education option requires only that hours fall in the broad subject areas of 12 AAC 44.610(a)(3).
  • Reinstatement. A lapsed RN license is reinstated with documentation of continuing competency activities "completed ... within the immediate two years before applying for reinstatement", the renewal fee and, if lapsed more than 60 days, the penalty fee (12 AAC 44.317(a)); after one year, add fingerprints and a reference letter showing 320 hours of nursing employment within five years, or a Board-approved course of study with 100 supervised clinical hours (44.317(b)). A lapsed APRN license requires national certification, compliance with 44.470 for prescriptive authority, and 320 hours of APRN clinical practice in the two years before application, or 200, 300 or 500 precepted hours after two, five or ten years without practice (12 AAC 44.475). "Continuing education credits earned to reinstate or renew a lapsed license may not be used to satisfy the continuing education requirements for a future renewal or reinstatement" (12 AAC 02.965(a)). Not modeled.
  • Compacts. Alaska is not a Nurse Licensure Compact state: the governor's compact bills of the 34th Legislature (SB 124 / HB 131) and HB 351 did not pass, and the 2026 session adjourned without resolving "that particular compact" (Alaska Public Media, May 26, 2026). Every Alaska RN license is single-state, and an APRN must hold an Alaska RN license (AS 08.68.170(c)(1); 12 AAC 44.470(4)). Alaska has not enacted the APRN Compact. HB 110 (2026), which would join compacts for physicians, physician assistants, psychologists, social workers and EMS personnel, does not cover nurses.

Alaska PMHNP CE: frequently asked questions

Which credentials does an Alaska PMHNP renew?

4 separate credentials, each on its own renewal date: the APRN (Alaska, biennial), the RN (Alaska, biennial), the PMHNP-BC (ANCC, every 5 years), and the DEA (DEA, triennial). Alaska issues no separate CSR. A lapse at any one of them stops prescribing.

How often do Alaska PMHNP licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is biennial, and the license renews by November 30 of even years.

How much does Alaska PMHNP license renewal cost?

The board's renewal fee is $100 every 2 years, per the Alaska board fee schedule. CE course costs are separate and set by course providers.

Are there subject-specific CE requirements for Alaska PMHNP licensees?

Yes. Alaska requires 2 hours of pain management and opioid use and addiction (aprns with a DEA registration).

Sources and verification

State source
Alaska board rule
Fee schedule
Alaska board fee schedule
Last verified
October 2026
Ruleset version
2026.3

We reviewed this page against the Alaska 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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Alaska 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.Alaska mental health workforce data →6,945 active providers, or 942 per 100,000 residents, ranked 2 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Alaska CE requirement pages

Alaska LPCAlaska LMFTAlaska LCSWAlaska Psychologist

PMHNP CE requirements in other states