Updated for 2026

Connecticut PMHNP Continuing Education Requirements

Connecticut psychiatric nurse practitioners must complete 50 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their APRN license, including 5 hours of pharmacology, 1 hour of infectious diseases, including AIDS and HIV, 1 hour of risk management, 1 hour of sexual assault, 1 hour of domestic violence, 1 hour of cultural competency, and 1 hour of substance abuse, including prescribing controlled substances and pain management.

These are the Connecticut 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.

50hours every 2 years
Topic minimums, counted within the 50
5pharmacology
1infectious diseases, including AIDS and HIV
1risk management
1sexual assault
1domestic violence
1cultural competency
1substance abuse, including prescribing controlled substances and pain management

The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.

Where this comes from
State source
Connecticut board rule
Last verified
October 2026
Ruleset version
2026.2

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

Connecticut PMHNP requirements

Total

50 hoursYou need 50 hours every 2 years. The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.

Topic minimums, counted within the 50

The remaining 39 hours are not tied to a topic minimum.
Pharmacology
5
You need 5 hours each cycle.
Infectious diseases, including AIDS and HIV
1
You need 1 hour each cycle.
Risk Management
1
You need 1 hour each cycle.
Sexual Assault
1
You need 1 hour each cycle.
Domestic Violence
1
You need 1 hour each cycle.
Cultural Competency
1
You need 1 hour each cycle.
Substance abuse, including prescribing controlled substances and pain management
1
You need 1 hour each cycle.

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.
Renewal fee
The board renewal fee is $130 every 2 years.
New licensees
No continuing education is required at the first renewal of a Connecticut APRN license (CGS § 20-94d(d)). From the second annual renewal on, 50 contact hours earned in the preceding 24 months are required, including the five pharmacotherapeutics hours, the six one-hour topics and, in that first period and every six years after, the two veterans' mental health hours. The RN license's own two hours under § 20-94e are owed from its first renewal (ct-rn.yaml).
Approved providers
"Qualifying continuing education activities include, but are not limited to, courses, including on-line courses, offered or approved by the American Nurses Association, Connecticut Hospital Association, Connecticut Nurses Association, Connecticut League for Nursing, a specialty nursing society or an equivalent organization in another jurisdiction, an educational offering sponsored by a hospital or other health care institution or a course offered by a regionally accredited academic institution or a state or local health department" (CGS § 20-94d(b)). The list is open, so no provider list is enforced; online courses qualify without limit. Hours must have been earned "within the preceding twenty-four-month period" before the renewal they support and must "be in an area of the advanced practice registered nurse's practice".
Recordkeeping
Keep CE documentation for 3 years after each course's completion date.
Board audit
The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
Late renewal
The board allows a 90-day grace period after expiration.

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 a Connecticut 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
    Connecticut · Biennial

    50 CE hours every 2 years, including 5 hours of pharmacology, 1 hour of infectious diseases, including AIDS and HIV, 1 hour of risk management, 1 hour of sexual assault, 1 hour of domestic violence, 1 hour of cultural competency and 1 hour of substance abuse, including prescribing controlled substances and pain management.

    Requirements above
  2. RNRegistered Nurse
    Connecticut · Annual

    No fixed CE hour total applies to a board-certified, prescribing PMHNP.

    Connecticut board rule
  3. CSRState Controlled Substance Registration
    Connecticut · Biennial

    No CE hours to renew.

    Connecticut board rule
  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 your renewal.

Your result appears here as you enter hours.

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

Connecticut PMHNP required trainings and mandates

Beyond the 50-hour CE total, Connecticut 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

  • You need 2 hours of veterans' mental health every 6 years.
Full board policy details
  • National certification is a condition of renewal, not a substitute for hours: "No such license shall be renewed unless the department is satisfied that the person maintains current certification as either a nurse practitioner, a clinical nurse specialist or a nurse anesthetist from one of the following national certifying bodies ...: The American Nurses' Association, the Nurses' Association of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Certification Corporation, the National Board of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and Associates or the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists" (CGS § 19a-88(c)(2); § 20-94a(a)(2) adds "or other appropriate national certifying bodies approved by the Board of Examiners for Nursing"). The pmhnp bc row (us-pmhnp bc.yaml) must therefore be current at each APRN renewal, and its ANCC hours count toward the 50 when they fall in the window, but holding it lifts none of the Connecticut hours, so no requirement here is gated on `pmhnp bc`.
  • Optional cognitive and mental health topic: the continuing education "(6) on and after January 1, 2020, may include not less than two contact hours of training or education during the first renewal period in which continuing education is required and not less than once every six years thereafter in diagnosing and treating cognitive or mental health conditions, including, but not limited to, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, delirium, related cognitive impairments and geriatric depression" (CGS § 20-94d(b)(6), P.A. 19-115). "May", not "shall", so it is not a requirement and is not modeled; such a course counts toward the 50 like any other.
  • No prescriber-only continuing education. Prescriptive authority is part of the APRN license itself: "In all settings, such advanced practice registered nurse may, in collaboration with a physician ..., prescribe, dispense and administer medical therapeutics and corrective measures" and after three years and 2,000 hours of collaboration may do so "alone or in collaboration with a physician or another health care provider" (CGS § 20-87a(b)(2)-(3)). The one controlled-substance subject, the substance abuse hour of § 20-94d(b)(4)(F), is owed by every APRN. The written collaboration must "address the level of schedule II and III controlled substances that such advanced practice registered nurse may prescribe" (§ 20-87a(b)(2)(A)); an APRN practicing without collaboration keeps documentation of the three years and 2,000 hours "for a period of not less than three years after completing such requirements" (§ 20-87a(b)(3)). Neither carries CE. The federal MATE Act training is the DEA row's (us-dea.yaml).
  • Controlled substance registration: "Every practitioner who distributes, administers or dispenses any controlled substance or who proposes to engage in distributing, prescribing, administering or dispensing any controlled substance within this state shall (1) obtain a certificate of registration issued by the Commissioner of Consumer Protection ..., (2) if the practitioner is engaged in prescribing a controlled substance, register for access to the electronic prescription drug monitoring program established pursuant to subsection (j) of section 21a-254" (CGS § 21a-317); "practitioner" includes an "advanced practice registered nurse as defined in subsection (b) of section 20-87a" (§ 21a-316(1)). DPH: the registration "is a prerequisite for the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration registration". It is the `csr` layer, ct-csr.yaml, renewed biennially on February 28 of odd years with no CE.
  • Professional liability insurance: "Each person licensed as an advanced practice registered nurse ... who provides direct patient care services shall maintain professional liability insurance or other indemnity against liability for professional malpractice" of at least $500,000 per occurrence and $1,500,000 aggregate (CGS § 20-94c(a)). A licensing condition, not CE; not modeled.
  • Inactive and returning licensees: an APRN "not engaged in active professional practice in any form during a registration period shall be exempt" on a notarized application filed before the period expires, and one exempt "for less than two years shall complete twenty-five contact hours of continuing education ... within the twelve-month period immediately preceding the licensee's return to active professional practice" (CGS § 20-94d(e)). A license void under § 19a-88 is reinstated on "twenty-five contact hours of continuing education within the one-year period immediately preceding application for reinstatement" (§ 20-94d(g)). Medical waivers or extensions run "a period not to exceed one registration period", renewable (§ 20-94d(f)). Board-granted case by case and not modeled.
  • Compacts: Connecticut implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact on October 1, 2025 for RNs and LPNs only (DPH NLC knowledge-base article; NCSBN release). The multistate RN license does not extend to APRN practice, and Connecticut has not enacted the APRN Compact, which has not reached the seven enactments it needs to take effect anywhere. The Connecticut APRN license is single-state; an APRN licensed elsewhere endorses in under § 20-94a(d) after three years of practice.

Connecticut PMHNP CE: frequently asked questions

Which credentials does a Connecticut PMHNP renew?

5 separate credentials, each on its own renewal date: the APRN (Connecticut, biennial), the RN (Connecticut, annual), the CSR (Connecticut, biennial), the PMHNP-BC (ANCC, every 5 years), and the DEA (DEA, triennial). A lapse at any one of them stops prescribing.

How many CE hours do Connecticut PMHNP licensees need?

Connecticut requires 50 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a PMHNP license. The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.

How often do Connecticut PMHNP licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.

How much does Connecticut PMHNP license renewal cost?

The board's renewal fee is $130 every 2 years, per the Connecticut board fee schedule. CE course costs are separate and set by course providers.

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

Yes. Connecticut requires 5 hours of pharmacology, 1 hour of infectious diseases, including AIDS and HIV, 1 hour of risk management, 1 hour of sexual assault, 1 hour of domestic violence, 1 hour of cultural competency, 1 hour of substance abuse, including prescribing controlled substances and pain management.

Is the first renewal different for new Connecticut PMHNP licensees?

No continuing education is required at the first renewal of a Connecticut APRN license (CGS § 20-94d(d)). From the second annual renewal on, 50 contact hours earned in the preceding 24 months are required, including the five pharmacotherapeutics hours, the six one-hour topics and, in that first period and every six years after, the two veterans' mental health hours. The RN license's own two hours under § 20-94e are owed from its first renewal (ct-rn.yaml).

Sources and verification

State source
Connecticut board rule
Fee schedule
Connecticut board fee schedule
Last verified
October 2026
Ruleset version
2026.2

We reviewed this page against the Connecticut 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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Connecticut 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.Connecticut mental health workforce data →23,913 active providers, or 648.3 per 100,000 residents, ranked 8 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Connecticut CE requirement pages

Connecticut LPCConnecticut LMFTConnecticut LCSWConnecticut PsychologistConnecticut Addiction Counselor

PMHNP CE requirements in other states