ANCC PMHNP requirements, from application to renewal

• License: you need a current RN license from anywhere in the U.S. or its territories; abroad, the legally recognized counterpart counts.
• Program: a master’s, post-graduate certificate or DNP that prepares a PMHNP across the lifespan, from a program accredited by CCNE, ACEN or CNEA.
• Hours: at least 500 faculty-supervised clinical hours in the PMHNP role.
• Coursework: three separate graduate-level courses in advanced pathophysiology, advanced health assessment and advanced pharmacology; content on health promotion and on differential diagnosis and disease management; clinical training in at least two psychotherapeutic modalities.

You can apply before graduation once coursework and hours are complete; the board then wants a verification of education form and a transcript before it issues authorization to test, and the credential follows the final transcript (exam page).

The current outline (Apr 28, 2023) rests on a role delineation study that surveyed practicing PMHNPs in 2022. ANCC re-posted the PDF in 2026 with new branding; the domains and counts did not change. The same board’s family NP exam moved to a new outline (Oct 30, 2026); that change does not apply here, and the PMHNP page announced no new outline when we read it on Nov 7, 2026.

• Length: 175 items. The 25 unscored pretest questions are trial items placed among the scored ones; nothing marks them.
• Time: 3.5 hours for the whole set, roughly 72 seconds an item.
• Type: multiple choice. Neither the outline nor the exam page states how many options an item has, so we don’t either.
• Medium: Prometric test center, on computer; the handbook describes no remote-proctored version.

You can apply in any month. Approval brings authorization to test and a 120-day window; book a Prometric seat inside it. If the window will not work, you can switch once to a fresh one for $100 (cost).

Passing standard: 350 of 500 (scaled). ANCC converts your count of correct scored items to the scale. Experts in the specialty set the cut using the modified Angoff method, so your result does not depend on how other candidates did. A failed report lists your scaled score with a high, medium or low rating per domain; a passing one says only that you passed. Results go through the Prometric portal. Year-by-year results: pass rate.

Retest rule: 60-day wait; 3 per 12 months. Each retest needs its own application and fee, eligibility is checked again, and you sit the entire exam, not only the weak domains. The per-domain ratings on a failed report show where to spend the wait.

The credential runs 5 years as long as the RN license stays active. Renewal is by continuing education and professional development, not by retesting. Under the current handbook it comes due every 5 years: 75 CE contact hours, including 25 in pharmacology, and one or more of 8 professional development categories. For applications from February 1, 2027, the new renewal handbook keeps 75 CE contact hours, 25 of them in pharmacology, and swaps the eight categories for one of three pathways: more CE, practice or scholarship. How the categories work across the board’s NP credentials: ANCC renewal.