Adding second CRNP specialty in Pennsylvania

[AtomicWoman]

Has anyone added a second specialty to their CRNP license in Pennsylvania? I'm already licensed for Adult Health and I want to add a second specialty (just finished a program and passed my certification exam). There is so little information on the BON website about how to do this, and when I call the Board, I'm on hold forever. No luck emailing. I know they need an application and verification from my school and ANCC, but do I have to go through the criminal background check again?

Thanks!

[AtomicWoman]

Answering my own question, for anyone else who needs to know. The answer is yes, you have to go through the whole process again, including criminal background checks from every state you've lived in, worked in, or went to school in. (Alternatively, just the state you live in and then an FBI criminal history check. The BON automatically submits your info to the Pennsylvania State Police system for a background check when you submit your application.)

Pennsylvania treats a second specialty as a new, entirely separate license. There is no process for speeding things up because you are already licensed with your first specialty. Also, your prescriptive authority is tied to a specific specialty. So if you are going to prescribe medications with your new specialty, you will need to do an additional prescriptive authority application.

[bbcewalters, NP]

Very interesting and thanks for the info!

[CSCRNP, MSN, NP]

Thank you so much for the updates. I completed my courses and obtained my second certification but I never licensed it. Would you know if there is a deadline to obtain licensure? Thank you so much for the info.

[AtomicWoman]

As far as I know, the Commonwealth does not have a deadline to obtain licensure for a second specialty. It all depends on whether you are working in that specialty or not. If you're working in the specialty, I would definitely get the licensure done. Just be aware how slow the process is, especially if you went to a non-Pennsylvania school for your second certification. From the time I submitted my application until I got prescriptive authority was 4-1/2 months. The license took about 3 months, and the prescriptive authority took another 6 weeks. And that was before COVID-19! So if you are even considering getting licensed, I would say do it sooner rather than later. The process will be a little quicker if you went to a Pennsylvania school, because those programs are already "Board-approved" and don't require your transcript to be analyzed in the same way an out-of-state transcript does.

[CSCRNP, MSN, NP]

Thanks AtomicWoman! It’s so easy to put these things off.

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

On 4/18/2020 at 2:02 PM, AtomicWoman said:

As far as I know, the Commonwealth does not have a deadline to obtain licensure for a second specialty. It all depends on whether you are working in that specialty or not. If you're working in the specialty, I would definitely get the licensure done. Just be aware how slow the process is, especially if you went to a non-Pennsylvania school for your second certification. From the time I submitted my application until I got prescriptive authority was 4-1/2 months. The license took about 3 months, and the prescriptive authority took another 6 weeks. And that was before COVID-19! So if you are even considering getting licensed, I would say do it sooner rather than later. The process will be a little quicker if you went to a Pennsylvania school, because those programs are already "Board-approved" and don't require your transcript to be analyzed in the same way an out-of-state transcript does.

PA BON has always been suuuuuuper slow. Thanks for the informative post!

[UrgentNP]

On 12/31/2019 at 11:02 AM, AtomicWoman said:

Hi AtomicWoman,

I just saw your post. What mental NP school did you end up doing? Do you find this certificate useful now? I am an FNP who is currently looking for the shortest and cheapest mental NP programs.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks for your informative posts.