Updated for 2026

Maryland PMHNP Continuing Education Requirements

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

These are the Maryland 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 is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.

Where this comes from
State source
Maryland 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

Maryland PMHNP requirements

Total

Maryland sets no APRN hour total that applies to every board-certified PMHNP. Your ANCC certification renewal sets its own hours, listed with your other credentials. The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.
Approved providers
Maryland's Board of Nursing sets no recurring continuing education for RN or CRNP renewal. A nurse who cannot show 1,000 hours of practice in the five years before renewal may instead show 30 continuing education units earned in the two years before renewal; a CEU is one contact hour, and 15 CEUs are awarded for each semester hour of a nursing-related college course passed with a C or better (COMAR 10.27.01.13). Logged hours are kept for that fallback and for the ANCC certification, which carries its own 75-hour requirement.
Recordkeeping
Keep CE documentation for 5 years after each renewal.
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 a Maryland 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
    Maryland · Biennial

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

    Requirements above
  2. RNRegistered Nurse
    Maryland · Biennial

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

    Requirements above
  3. CSRState Controlled Substance Registration
    Maryland · Triennial

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

    Maryland 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

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

Maryland PMHNP required trainings and mandates

Maryland also requires specific trainings. Some are due once around initial licensure, and others run on their own recurring schedule.

One-time requirements

  • "An applicant for the renewal of a license or certificate issued by a health occupations board" must complete "an implicit bias and structural racism training program approved by the Cultural and Linguistic Health Care Professional Competency Program" and "attest in the application that the applicant has completed" it; the requirement "applies only to an applicant's first license or certificate renewal after April 1, 2026" (Health Occupations § 1-225). The Board of Nursing: "Effective April 1, 2026, all applicants renewing a health occupation license or certificate must complete approved training in implicit bias and structural racism ... These courses are required only once", at "your first renewal after April 1, 2026"; a licensee who completed the earlier implicit bias training (required since the April 1, 2022 renewals) attests to that and completes the structural racism program. Approved programs are listed by the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities. The statute sets no hour count, so the one hour here is a placeholder for "completed"; the training does not count toward any CEU total. (1 hour, one time).
Full board policy details
  • RN renewal is a practice requirement, not a CE requirement: the applicant shows one of "1,000 hours of active nursing practice within the 5 years immediately preceding the date of the renewal application", completion of "a diploma or degree from a Board-approved nursing education program within the 5 years", or "30 continuing education units (CEUs) within the 2 years" before renewal (COMAR 10.27.01.13). A nurse practitioner in group practice meets the first prong, so no hour total is modeled; a nurse returning from a break who needs the 30-CEU prong logs those hours against the two years before renewal.
  • CRNP certification renews with the RN license on "documentation of every current national certification as a nurse practitioner from a national certifying body recognized by the Board that was the basis of the Board's initial certification"; "Certification as a nurse practitioner in an area of specialization shall be deemed to have lapsed if the Board does not have a record of the current active national certification in that area of specialization", and "Practicing on an expired national certification is prohibited" (COMAR 10.27.07.04). The CE behind the national certification is ANCC's (us-pmhnp bc.yaml); the Board imposes none of its own.
  • Implicit bias and structural racism training: one-time, attested, no hour count (Health Occupations § 1-225; Board of Nursing notice). The license form's "submitted with licensure application" question is used to record a licensee who has already attested to it, since the Board keeps no CE record of it.

Maryland PMHNP CE: frequently asked questions

Which credentials does a Maryland PMHNP renew?

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

How often do Maryland PMHNP licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.

Sources and verification

State source
Maryland board rule
Last verified
October 2026
Ruleset version
2026.2

We reviewed this page against the Maryland 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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Maryland 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.Maryland mental health workforce data →32,280 active providers, or 515.2 per 100,000 residents, ranked 17 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Maryland CE requirement pages

Maryland LPCMaryland LMFTMaryland LCSWMaryland PsychologistMaryland Addiction Counselor

PMHNP CE requirements in other states