Updated for 2026

South Carolina PMHNP Continuing Education Requirements

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

These are the South Carolina 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
20pharmacotherapeutics (prescriptive authority renewal)
2prescribing controlled substances (two of the twenty pharmacotherapeutics hours)

Next deadline: April 30, 2028The renewal cycle is biennial, and the license renews by April 30 of even years.

Where this comes from
State source
South Carolina 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

South Carolina PMHNP requirements

Topic minimums

Pharmacotherapeutics (prescriptive authority renewal)
20
You need 20 hours each cycle.
Prescribing controlled substances (two of the twenty pharmacotherapeutics hours)
2
You need 2 hours each cycle.

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is biennial, and the license renews by April 30 of even years.
Renewal fee
The board renewal fee is $145 every 2 years.
Approved providers
Pharmacotherapeutics hours must be "acceptable to the board" (§ 40-33-34(E)(3)): "The State Board of Nursing for South Carolina will accept continuing education pharmacotherapeutics/ controlled substance hours for prescriptive authority approved by the following providers/ organizations: ACCME, ACPE, AAFP, AAPA, AANP, ANA and ANCC, APA, any State Board of Nursing, NAPNAP, NCC" (Board Approved Listing for Pharmacotherapeutics Education, updated August 2023). Hours "may include personal attendance at real time course sessions (including remote locations), self-study courses, video based and computer based courses" (position statement); at most 15 percent (three hours) in alternative, natural, herbal or complementary pharmacotherapeutics. Hours must fall "within the two years preceding the renewal application"; the Board counts an offering once per licensure period. One contact hour is 60 minutes; one CME equals one contact hour.
Recordkeeping
Keep CE documentation for 4 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 South Carolina 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
    South Carolina · Biennial

    20 hours of pharmacotherapeutics (prescriptive authority renewal) and 2 hours of prescribing controlled substances (two of the twenty pharmacotherapeutics hours) every 2 years.

    Requirements above
  2. RNRegistered Nurse
    South Carolina · Biennial

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

    South Carolina board rule
  3. CSRState Controlled Substance Registration
    South Carolina · Annual

    No CE hours to renew.

    South Carolina 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 April 30, 2028.

Your result appears here as you enter hours.

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

Full board policy details
  • National certification is the competency test, not an option: "An advanced practice registered nurse must achieve and maintain national certification, as recognized by the board, in an advanced practice registered nursing specialty" (§ 40-33-34(A)(3)); "Competency for an APRN license is an updated National Certification" and "Competency for APRNs WITHOUT Prescriptive Authority is maintenance of their national certification" (Board FAQ and renewal notice). The Board's Approved Advanced Practice Certification Organizations list names ANCC's "Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (Across the Lifespan) (PMHNP-BC)" (the adult-only PMHNP-BC is marked "Retired: Renewal Only"). Maintaining the certification is the ANCC row's obligation (us-pmhnp bc.yaml); this row adds no hours for a non-prescriber and the § 40-33-40 menu belongs to the RN license (sc-rn.yaml).
  • Alternative pharmacotherapeutics cap: "For renewal applications, a maximum of fifteen percent (15%), or three hours, may be obtained through approved alternative, natural, herbal or complementary pharmacotherapeutics education" (position statement). Credits carry no alternative-medicine marker, so the cap is prose only.
  • Initial and reinstated prescriptive authority (not renewal): a first applicant shows "forty-five contact hours of education in pharmacotherapeutics acceptable to the board, within two years before application", with "at least fifteen hours of education in controlled substances ... as part of the forty-five contact hours" to prescribe Schedules II through V; an applicant with prescriptive authority in another state shows twenty hours, fifteen of them in controlled substances for equivalent controlled-substance authority (§ 40-33-34(E)(1)(d)-(f)); new graduates within two years of a graduate pharmacology course meet both. "Applicants whose privileges have lapsed for less than six (6) months do not require additional contact hours. Applicants whose privileges have lapsed for more than six (6) months ... must meet the requirements of a first time applicant" (Board prescriptive authority page). One-time entry and return-to-practice showings, left in prose.
  • Scope of controlled-substance authority: prescriptions "may include Schedules III through V controlled substances if listed in the practice agreement and as authorized by Section 44-53-300", "Schedule II nonnarcotic substances ... provided, however, that each such prescription must not exceed a thirty-day supply", and "Schedule II narcotic substances ... provided, however, that the prescription must not exceed a five-day supply and another prescription must not be written without the written agreement of the physician", except for hospice, palliative and long-term care patients (thirty-day supply) (§ 40-33-34(F)(1)(c)-(f)). Every prescription carries "the prescriber's identification number assigned by the board and all prescribing numbers required by law" (§ 40-33-34(F)(1)(g)). Adding Schedule II: "Advance Practice Nurses must contact BOTH the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and the ... DEA to request controlled substances to be added to their registrations" (Board FAQ; the Bureau of Drug Control moved to the Department of Public Health on July 1, 2024).
  • Practice agreement: medical acts, including prescribing, "must be performed pursuant to a practice agreement between the nurse and the physician or medical staff" that lists "drug therapies that may be prescribed" (§ 40-33-34(D)(1)); it "must be reviewed at least annually, dated and signed by the nurse and physician, and made available to the board for review within seventy-two hours of request", and "A random audit of a practice agreement must be conducted by the board at least biennially" (§ 40-33-34(D)(3)). A change of practice setting or physician is reported within fifteen business days (§ 40-33-34(D)(4)). Not continuing education; not modeled.
  • Prescription monitoring: before issuing a Schedule II prescription a practitioner "shall review a patient's controlled substance prescription history ... as maintained in the prescription monitoring program" (S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-1645, SCRIPTS), with the exceptions of subsection (B). A PMP account is a review duty, not a registration or CE, and is not modeled. No opioid-specific, implicit-bias, suicide- prevention or human-trafficking continuing education attaches to the APRN or RN license in South Carolina; the two controlled-substance hours above are the only prescriber topic.
  • Active-duty military: continuing education is excused "while serving on active military duty" (§ 40-1-610) and the fee for a calendar year of active duty (§ 40-1-620); not modeled, no fact.
  • Compacts: South Carolina is a Nurse Licensure Compact member for the RN license (sc-rn.yaml); it has not enacted the APRN Compact, which is not in effect anywhere. The APRN license and prescriptive authority are single-state.

South Carolina PMHNP CE: frequently asked questions

Which credentials does a South Carolina PMHNP renew?

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

How often do South Carolina PMHNP licensees renew?

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

How much does South Carolina PMHNP license renewal cost?

The board's renewal fee is $145 every 2 years, per the South Carolina board fee schedule. CE course costs are separate and set by course providers.

Are there subject-specific CE requirements for South Carolina PMHNP licensees?

Yes. South Carolina requires 20 hours of pharmacotherapeutics (prescriptive authority renewal), 2 hours of prescribing controlled substances (two of the twenty pharmacotherapeutics hours).

Sources and verification

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

We reviewed this page against the South Carolina 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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South Carolina 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.South Carolina mental health workforce data →15,770 active providers, or 283.1 per 100,000 residents, ranked 44 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other South Carolina CE requirement pages

South Carolina LPCSouth Carolina LMFTSouth Carolina LCSWSouth Carolina PsychologistSouth Carolina Addiction Counselor

PMHNP CE requirements in other states