District of Columbia PMHNP Continuing Education Requirements
Here's what a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) must complete to renew in District of Columbia.
These are the District of Columbia 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.
The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.
- State source
- District of Columbia 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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District of Columbia PMHNP requirements
Total
District of Columbia sets no APRN hour total that applies to every board-certified PMHNP. The topic minimums below still apply. Your ANCC certification renewal sets its own hours, listed with your other credentials. The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.
Topic minimums
- APRN continuing education in pharmacology
- 15
- You need 15 hours 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 $263 every 2 years, and a late (delinquent) renewal adds a $85 fee.
- Approved providers
- Each program "shall be approved by the ANCC or other nationally certifying organization recognized by the Board and related to the certificate holder's specialty", and "Only continuing education hours obtained in the two (2) years immediately preceding the application date will be accepted" (17 DCMR 5903.5(c)). ANCC-accredited and other nationally accredited nursing contact hours qualify; the Board's RN rule also recognizes ACCME-accredited programs (5410.3(c)(2)), which chapter 54 makes supplementary to chapter 59 (5900.2), but the APRN text names only national certifying organizations, so confirm a non-nursing accreditor before relying on it. "A certificate holder shall submit a verification form of completion, for each program, course, seminar, or workshop for which continuing education is claimed" (5903.6).
- Recordkeeping
- Keep CE documentation for 2 years after each renewal.
- Board audit
- The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
- Late renewal
- The board allows a 60-day grace period after expiration. A late renewal adds a $85 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.
Every credential a District of Columbia 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.
- APRNAdvanced Practice Registered NurseDistrict of Columbia · Biennial
15 hours of APRN continuing education in pharmacology every 2 years.
Requirements above - RNRegistered NurseDistrict of Columbia · Biennial
24 CE hours every 2 years, including 2.5 hours of DC public health priorities and 2 hours of LGBTQ cultural competency or specialized clinical training.
District of Columbia board rule - CSRState Controlled Substance Registration
- PMHNP-BCPsychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Board CertifiedANCC · Every 5 years
75 CE hours every 5 years, including 25 hours of pharmacology.
PMHNP-BC renewal requirements - DEADEA Registration
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.
District of Columbia PMHNP required trainings and mandates
District of Columbia also 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
- Evidence of current national certification or recertification by the ANCC or another national certifying body approved by the Board, submitted with each APRN renewal (17 DCMR 5903.5(b)), together with a current DC RN license (5903.5(a)). A renewal condition, not continuing education; for a PMHNP it is the ANCC PMHNP-BC row (us-pmhnp bc.yaml).
Full board policy details
- National certification at every renewal. The holder must "Submit evidence of current national certification or recertification, as applicable, by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or or other national certifying body approved by the Board" (17 DCMR 5903.5(b)) and "Maintain current licensure as a registered nurse in the District of Columbia" (5903.5(a); 5901.1). Certification does not replace the 15 hours; the District names no certification option in lieu of CE (contrast Texas and North Carolina). Carried as an external mandate; the ANCC row (us-pmhnp bc.yaml) carries its own renewal.
- LGBTQ and public health hours. D.C. Official Code 3-1205.10(b)(5) requires that "any continuing education requirements for the practice of any health occupation licensed, registered, or certified under this section include 2 credits of instruction on cultural competency or specialized clinical training focusing on patients who identify as ... LGBTQ", but chapter 59 has not been amended to say so and DC Health's 2026 notice lists only the pharmacology hours for the APRN. Every DC nurse practitioner also holds a DC RN license (5903.5(a)), whose rule carries the two LGBTQ hours and the public health priority hours (dc-rn.yaml), so they are modeled once, on the RN row.
- Prescriptive authority. "A nurse-practitioner shall have authority to prescribe drugs only while certified in accordance with this chapter" (17 DCMR 5909.2), Schedules II through V "that are authorized by the protocol under which the nurse-practitioner is practicing" (5910.1). To prescribe a controlled substance the NP must hold a DEA registration and "a valid District of Columbia controlled substances registration" (5910.2), may not "issue a refillable prescription for a controlled substance" (5910.3), and "shall maintain a current and complete log of all controlled substances that the nurse practitioner prescribes" (5910.4). There is no District pharmacology, opioid, pain management or controlled-substance CE beyond the 15 hours, so nothing is gated on `prescribing`, `prescribes opioids` or a `dea` row. The Director's public health priorities include "Substance use/misuse and substance use disorder", which an RN-row course can satisfy.
- PDMP. "The District of Columbia requires all licensed practitioners with prescribing authority to register for the District of Columbia Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (DC PDMP) ... Your license will not be renewed without PDMP registration"; a prescriber without a DEA number registers "as a Prescriber without DEA" (2026 RN/APRN Renewal Notice). A one-time account, not CE; the controlled substance registration has the same precondition (22-B DCMR 1003.2, dc-csr.yaml).
- Shortened transition terms. DC Health's birth-month transition gives some licensees a term shorter than two years, and "All Boards have approved acceptance of 50% of the Continuing Education (CE) requirements for licensees who have received less than two (2) years on their license term during this transition period" (Board of Nursing page). Read with this rule, a nurse practitioner on a shortened first birth-month term owes about 7.5 of the 15 hours at that one renewal. Not modeled (no fact marks a transition term); the row shows 15.
- Reinstatement. A holder who misses the 60-day late window "shall thereafter be required to apply for reinstatement of an expired certificate and meet all requirements and fees for reinstatement" (17 DCMR 5903.9); the Board's APRN reinstatement checklist governs the catch-up hours. Chapter 59 states no separate figure, so no reactivation block is modeled.
District of Columbia PMHNP CE: frequently asked questions
Which credentials does a District of Columbia PMHNP renew?
5 separate credentials, each on its own renewal date: the APRN (District of Columbia, biennial), the RN (District of Columbia, biennial), the CSR (District of Columbia, biennial), the PMHNP-BC (ANCC, every 5 years), and the DEA (DEA, triennial). A lapse at any one of them stops prescribing.
How often do District of Columbia PMHNP licensees renew?
The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.
How much does District of Columbia PMHNP license renewal cost?
The board's renewal fee is $263 every 2 years, per the District of Columbia board fee schedule. Renewing late adds a $85 delinquency fee on top. CE course costs are separate and set by course providers.
Are there subject-specific CE requirements for District of Columbia PMHNP licensees?
Yes. District of Columbia requires 15 hours of APRN continuing education in pharmacology.
Sources and verification
- State source
- District of Columbia board rule
- Fee schedule
- District of Columbia board fee schedule
- Last verified
- October 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.2
We reviewed this page against the District of Columbia 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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District of Columbia guides & data
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PMHNP CE requirements in other states
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