Updated for 2026

Utah PMHNP Continuing Education Requirements

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

These are the Utah 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.

Next deadline: January 31, 2028The renewal cycle is biennial, and the license renews by January 31 of even years.

Where this comes from
State source
Utah 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

Utah PMHNP requirements

Total

No CE hoursThe board does not require continuing education hours to renew this license. The renewal cycle is biennial, and the license renews by January 31 of even years.

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is biennial, and the license renews by January 31 of even years.
Approved providers
A certified APRN owes DOPL no hours; the Division verifies current national certification at renewal. The 30-hour alternative for a pre-1992 licensee must be "approved continuing education", meaning "continuing education that has been approved by a nationally or internationally recognized approver" (Utah Admin. Code R156-31b-102(5)), earned in the February 1 to January 31 biennium ending in the even year. Hours logged against this row are otherwise held for the national certification (ANCC's 75 contact hours, us-pmhnp_bc.yaml) and, for a prescriber, the controlled substance license (ut-csr.yaml) and the federal DEA row (us-dea.yaml).
Recordkeeping
Keep CE documentation for 2 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 Utah 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
    Utah · Biennial

    No CE hours to renew.

    Requirements above
  2. RNRegistered Nurse
    Utah · Biennial

    30 CE hours every 2 years.

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

    3.5 hours of controlled substance prescribing class every 2 years.

    Utah 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 Utah Psychologist or LPC license? Each board runs its own CE cycle. See the Utah Psychologist and Utah LPC requirements.

Full board policy details
  • National certification is the renewal condition, not a substitute for hours: the APRN must "be currently certified or recertified in the licensee's specialty area of practice" (R156-31b-303(3)(b)(i)(A)), the certification being one "offered by a certifying body approved by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) or the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC)" (R156-31b-302e(1)(c)), which includes ANCC's PMHNP-BC. A nurse practitioner whose ANCC certification lapses cannot renew the APRN license, and one previously licensed in Utah whose license expired, lapsed or went inactive reinstates by demonstrating "current certification in the applicant's specialty" (302e(4)). The certification's own 75-hour, five-year renewal is us-pmhnp bc.yaml and is not folded in here. The base requirement list is empty for that reason, and the 30-hour alternative is confined to pre-1992 licensees without certification.
  • Prescriber education belongs to the controlled substance license. "If authorized to prescribe controlled substances, [the APRN shall] comply with Section R156-37-402 and Section 58-37-6.5" (R156-31b-303(3)(b)(ii)). Utah Code 58-37-6.5 was renumbered 58-37-303 by Chapter 362, 2026 General Session (H.B. 301, recodification of the Utah Controlled Substances Act, effective May 6, 2026; the Office of Legislative Research crosswalk marks it "Renumbered only"). It requires "each controlled substance prescriber" to "complete at least 3.5 continuing education hours per licensing period" in controlled substance prescribing classes "as a condition precedent for license renewal", and since the licensing period beginning after January 1, 2024 a one-time 3.5-hour SBIRT training class (58-37-303(2)). A "controlled substance prescriber" is one who "is licensed to prescribe a controlled substance under this chapter", that is, who holds the DOPL controlled substance license. Those hours and the 0.5-hour controlled substance database tutorial are modeled on the `csr` row (ut-csr.yaml), which renews on the same January 31 even-year date, and are deliberately not duplicated here. An APRN without a controlled substance license (one who prescribes no controlled substances) owes none of them. The federal MATE Act training is the DEA row's (us-dea.yaml).
  • The controlled substance license itself: "Every person who ... prescribes ... any controlled substance in Schedules I through V within this state ... shall obtain a license issued by the division" (Utah Code 58-37-105(2)(a)(i)), issued to "a qualified person licensed in good standing in the classification of ... advanced practice registered nurse" (R156-37-301(1)(a)(ix)); the licensee "shall obtain a DEA registration within 120 days of the date the controlled substance license is issued" unless using an employer's institutional registration (R156-37-305(1)), and the controlled substance license is suspended at once if the APRN license "expires or is revoked, surrendered, or suspended" (305(3)). Utah APRNs prescribe Schedules II through V on their own license; there is no separate prescriptive authority certificate and no collaborative agreement requirement for a nurse practitioner (a CRNA or an APRN in the first year may have consultation and referral plans under 58-31b-102). The initial application's "course work in patient assessment, diagnosis and treatment, and pharmacotherapeutics" (58-31b-302(5)(f)(i)) is an education prerequisite, not recurring CE.
  • Suicide prevention training is no longer a renewal condition. H.B. 87 (2018) added Utah Code 58-31b-309(3)-(4), a Division-adopted "suicide prevention training requirement" of "a minimum of two hours" for licensees practicing in a primary care setting, carried in former R156-31b-309 and on DOPL's renewal forms. The current 58-31b-309 (le.utah.gov) again contains only subsections (1) and (2), R156-31b-309 was "Repealed by Utah State Bulletin Number 2023-03, effective 1/24/2023", and R156-31b-303 as amended January 16, 2025 names no such course. CE vendors still list it; it is historical and not modeled.
  • No other statewide mandates: no ethics, laws and rules, implicit bias, human trafficking, domestic violence, pain management or pharmacology hours attach to the APRN license. The controlled substance database duties (Utah Code Title 58, Chapter 37f: check the database before first prescribing a Schedule II or III opioid, and the online tutorial and test whose 0.5 hour the Division may waive on an attestation of database use, R156-37-402(3)(c)) are the controlled substance licensee's and are described in ut-csr.yaml. The APRN's duty under Utah Code 58-37-19 to discuss risks "before issuing an initial opiate prescription" is a practice standard whose breach is unprofessional conduct (R156-31b-502(1)(i)), not continuing education.
  • Psychiatric mental health specialty: an applicant "to practice within the psychiatric mental health nursing specialty" must complete at least 4,000 hours of education and clinical practice, of which 3,000 after the certification exam within five years of graduation, including 1,000 hours of mental health therapy and 2,000 hours of supervised clinical practice (R156-31b-302e(2); Utah Code 58-31b-302(5)(i) as re-enacted by Chapter 96, 2026). Licensure prerequisites; not renewal requirements.
  • Prorated or extended first terms: "A license issued during the last 12 months of a renewal cycle" runs for the rest of that cycle plus the next full cycle (R156-1-308c(6); 308l), so an APRN licensed between February 1, 2025 and January 31, 2026 first renews January 31, 2028. No first-renewal waiver of the certification condition exists, and none is modeled.
  • Waivers and extensions: a licensee "may request a waiver of, or an extension of time to complete, a continuing education requirement" for a medical condition, humanitarian or ecclesiastical service, lack of available education in the area, or other reasonable cause (R156-1-308d(1)); volunteer health care may supply up to 15 percent of a requirement at one hour per four hours of service (308d(3)). Case by case; not modeled.
  • Compacts: Utah is a Nurse Licensure Compact state (Utah Code 58-31b-308(1)(d); 58-31e), which covers RN and LPN licenses only. Utah enacted the APRN Compact on March 24, 2022 (NCSBN, the third state after North Dakota and Delaware), but the compact takes effect only when seven states have enacted it, which has not happened, so every Utah APRN license is a single-state license renewed on this calendar. An APRN whose RN license is another compact state's multistate license holds a Utah APRN license without a Utah RN row (R156-31b-302e(1)(a) asks for "a current, active RN license in good standing", which a multistate privilege satisfies).

Utah PMHNP CE: frequently asked questions

Which credentials does a Utah PMHNP renew?

5 separate credentials, each on its own renewal date: the APRN (Utah, biennial), the RN (Utah, biennial), the CSR (Utah, 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 Utah PMHNP licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is biennial, and the license renews by January 31 of even years.

Sources and verification

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

We reviewed this page against the Utah 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 Utah 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.

Utah 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.Utah mental health workforce data →18,620 active providers, or 526.2 per 100,000 residents, ranked 15 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Utah CE requirement pages

Utah LPCUtah LMFTUtah LCSWUtah PsychologistUtah Addiction Counselor

PMHNP CE requirements in other states