Updated for 2026

Pennsylvania PMHNP Continuing Education Requirements

Pennsylvania psychiatric nurse practitioners must complete 30 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their APRN license, including 16 hours of pharmacology, 2 hours of child abuse recognition and reporting, and 2 hours of pain management.

These are the Pennsylvania 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.

30hours every 2 years
Topic minimums, counted within the 30
16pharmacology
2child abuse recognition and reporting
2pain management

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

Where this comes from
State source
Pennsylvania 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

Start free trialExplore the demo →

It's free for 30 days, and you don't need a card.

Requirements

Pennsylvania PMHNP requirements

Total

30 hoursYou need 30 hours every 2 years. The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.

Topic minimums, counted within the 30

The remaining 10 hours are not tied to a topic minimum.
Pharmacology
16
You need 16 hours each cycle.
Child Abuse Recognition and Reporting
2
You need 2 hours each cycle.
Pain Management
2
You need 2 hours each cycle.

Limits on how the hours are earned

Teaching and publication combined
max 4 hrs

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.
New licensees
"An applicant applying for initial licensure in this Commonwealth will not be required to meet the continuing education requirement on the first renewal immediately following licensure, except for the mandatory continuing education in child abuse recognition and reporting required under § 21.508(b)" (49 Pa. Code § 21.131(b); 63 P.S. § 222(c)). The two child abuse hours are still due. The CRNP certificate has no matching exemption: a newly certified CRNP owes the 30 hours (and, with prescriptive authority, the pharmacology and opioid hours) at the first certificate renewal.
Approved providers
RN hours must come from the sources of 49 Pa. Code § 21.134(a): Board- approved or accredited nursing and CRNP programs, accredited or licensed hospitals and health care facilities, regionally accredited colleges, national nursing, medical and other health professional organizations and their affiliates, national nursing and patient-safety approvers (ANCC among them), federal and state agencies, boards in other jurisdictions, and organ procurement organizations; other sources need Board approval 90 days ahead (§ 21.134(b)-(c)). CRNP hours must come from the providers of § 21.334(a): CRNP education programs, national and international nursing, medical, osteopathic and pharmaceutical organizations and their affiliates, national nursing specialty organizations, and programs other boards of nursing approve for nurse practitioners; anything else needs prior Board approval (§ 21.334(b)-(d)). Child abuse hours must come from a Bureau and DHS approved provider who reports completion electronically (§ 21.508(b)). Hours count only in the biennium in which they were earned; none carry over (§ 21.131(f)).
Recordkeeping
Keep CE documentation for 5 years after each course's completion date.
Board audit
The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.

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 Pennsylvania 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
    Pennsylvania · Biennial

    30 CE hours every 2 years, including 16 hours of pharmacology, 2 hours of child abuse recognition and reporting and 2 hours of pain management.

    Requirements above
  2. RNRegistered Nurse
    Pennsylvania · Biennial

    30 CE hours every 2 years, including 2 hours of child abuse recognition and reporting.

    Requirements above
  3. CSRState Controlled Substance Registration
    Pennsylvania

    Pennsylvania 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 your renewal.

Your result appears here as you enter hours.

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

Pennsylvania PMHNP required trainings and mandates

Beyond the 30-hour CE total, Pennsylvania requires specific trainings. Some are due once around initial licensure, and others run on their own recurring schedule.

One-time requirements

  • "Effective May 1, 2026, a registered nurse who obtained a license prior to May 1, 2026, shall verify completion of at least 2 of the 30 hours in Board-approved continuing education in organ and tissue donation and recovery process ... one time within 5 years of licensure renewal"; a nurse licensed on or after that date does so "one time within 5 years of initial licensure" (49 Pa. Code § 21.131(a.1)(1)-(2)). The CRNP renewal carries the same two hours (§ 21.331(c)(6)). The Board's notice: "one time within 5 years of initial licensure or within 5 years of licensure renewal, whichever comes first." The course must follow the Board's six-part curriculum (§ 21.133(a.1)) and come from an organ procurement organization or another Board-approved provider (§ 21.134(a)(11)); the Center for Organ Recovery and Education and Gift of Life Donor Program offer it free. Modeled as one_time, so it shows as owed until logged even though the Board allows up to five years; the hours count toward the 30 of the biennium in which they are earned. (2 hours, one time).
Full board policy details
  • National certification is not a substitute for CE. Section 12.1(b) of the Professional Nursing Law makes "Nationally certified education courses" creditable, but no provision lifts any of the 30 hours for holding a national certification. Separately, a CRNP certified by the Board after February 7, 2005 must "Demonstrate current National certification" at each renewal (49 Pa. Code § 21.331(c)(3); § 21.271(a)(3)), which is the `pmhnp bc` row's own renewal, not a CE requirement here.
  • Hour length and academic credit: "each hour is at least 50 minutes of activity" (49 Pa. Code § 21.132(a)); "An hour for purposes of nurse practitioner continuing education is 50 minutes" (§ 21.334(f)). One academic semester course equals 15 hours, a trimester course 12 and a quarter course 10 (§ 21.132(b)); research as principal or co-principal investigator is credited as 15 hours (§ 21.133(e)). Not modeled as conversions; log the converted hours. "Distance learning continuing education is acceptable for completion of all 30 continuing education hours" (§ 21.134(g)).
  • Content limits: courses must be "relevant to patient care or professional nursing" (49 Pa. Code § 21.133(a)); self-improvement, courses for lay people, BLS or CPR, facility-specific policy training and employment orientation "are not acceptable" (§ 21.133(f)). "The Board may, for any given biennial license period and with adequate notice to registered nurses, require that up to 4 hours of continuing education be completed in designated topics" (§ 21.133(b)); none is designated as of this authoring.
  • Child abuse exemptions (49 Pa. Code § 21.508(c)-(d)): equal or greater Act 126 school training or 23 Pa.C.S. § 6383(c) training completed in the same biennium, or a case-by-case exemption; "The Board will not grant an exemption based solely upon proof that children are not part of the applicant's or licensee's practice", and an exemption covers one biennium only. Initial RN licensure and initial CRNP certification each require three hours of approved child abuse training before issuance (§§ 21.508(a), 21.271(a)(4)); that is an application prerequisite and is not tracked as renewal CE.
  • Waiver and deficiency (49 Pa. Code §§ 21.131(g)-(h), 21.332(b)): a waiver for "serious illness, military service or other demonstrated hardship" must be requested in writing at least 90 days before expiration; "A CRNP who requests a waiver may not prescribe or dispense drugs after the expiration of his current prescriptive authority until the Board grants the waiver request". An RN short of 30 hours is subject to a civil penalty under § 43b.18a and must make up the deficiency within 6 months of notice.
  • Reactivation (49 Pa. Code §§ 21.131(d)-(e), 21.332a): an RN reinstating a lapsed, inactive or suspended license documents 30 hours including two child abuse hours in the biennium before applying, the standard requirement. A CRNP certification lapsed or inactive five years or more also needs current national certification or recent practice elsewhere; prescriptive authority inactive or lapsed three years or more requires 45 hours of advanced pharmacology coursework or equivalent recent prescribing elsewhere (§ 21.332a(c)). Not modeled beyond the standard requirement.
  • Compacts: Pennsylvania enacted the Nurse Licensure Compact (signed July 1, 2021), allowed multistate licensees from other states to practice from September 5, 2023, and fully implemented it on July 7, 2025, when the Board began issuing multistate RN licenses (NCSBN). A Pennsylvania multistate RN license renews through this rule. Pennsylvania has not enacted the APRN Compact; the CRNP certificate is single-state.

Pennsylvania PMHNP CE: frequently asked questions

Which credentials does a Pennsylvania PMHNP renew?

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

How many CE hours do Pennsylvania PMHNP licensees need?

Pennsylvania requires 30 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a PMHNP license. The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.

How often do Pennsylvania PMHNP licensees renew?

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

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

Yes. Pennsylvania requires 16 hours of pharmacology, 2 hours of child abuse recognition and reporting, 2 hours of pain management.

Is the first renewal different for new Pennsylvania PMHNP licensees?

"An applicant applying for initial licensure in this Commonwealth will not be required to meet the continuing education requirement on the first renewal immediately following licensure, except for the mandatory continuing education in child abuse recognition and reporting required under § 21.508(b)" (49 Pa. Code § 21.131(b); 63 P.S. § 222(c)). The two child abuse hours are still due. The CRNP certificate has no matching exemption: a newly certified CRNP owes the 30 hours (and, with prescriptive authority, the pharmacology and opioid hours) at the first certificate renewal.

Sources and verification

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

We reviewed this page against the Pennsylvania 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

Make your next renewal easier.

Add your Pennsylvania PMHNP license and every requirement on this page becomes a checklist on your record.

Start free trialExplore the demo

30 days free, no credit card.

Pennsylvania 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.Pennsylvania mental health workforce data →50,517 active providers, or 386.8 per 100,000 residents, ranked 33 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Pennsylvania CE requirement pages

Pennsylvania LPCPennsylvania LMFTPennsylvania LCSWPennsylvania Psychologist

PMHNP CE requirements in other states