Applying for a PMHNP license in California

[PsychRN_CA]

Hello,

I am already licensed as an RN in California. I will be graduating from a Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program in May 2020 and have some questions about the process and I am hoping you can help me.

It was mentioned in my program we should apply for our license early; the California BRN has an alert on their page that reads, "In order to furnish (prescribe) drugs and devices to patients, you must submit an application for a Nurse Practitioner Furnishing Number together with your Nurse Practitioner Application.” Should I wait until I pass my ANCC and have all my documents before I apply?

Do I have to turn 3 applications: a NP application, a furnishing license application, and a Psychiatric mental health nurse application? Or do I just need to turn in the NP application and furnishing license application?

If I need to wait to apply; when should I request the transcripts and verification form the form from the school and ANCC? Transcripts sometimes take weeks; what happens if I request those and they arrive before you get my applications?

For the Application for the listing as a psychiatric/mental health nurse: I'm not sure what I should put for Page 7, Question E. "Supervised Clinical Experience in Psychiatric/Mental Health Counseling.” It seems like this is independent from my clinical experience which will be verified by the ANCC certification.

It wants

Beginning and end dates

Supervisor's name and profession

Briefly describe the nature of your clinical experience and state where it was obtained

Do I just need to list one of my preceptors for this question?

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

From my understanding, the Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse certification in California is a voluntary program. That tells me it's not a requirement for practice. To practice as a Nurse Practitioner in California, you must have an active RN, NP, and NPF (to prescribe). Since you're already an RN here, you only need to apply for NP and NPF which you can do as soon as your school releases your transcript if you went to a California-approved NP program in-state. Grads of those programs are not required to pass ANCC. It is recommended that you also take the ANCC exam so that if in future, it is required by the state or an employer, you already have it.

[thinbluelineRN, MSN, NP]

Curious- what school did you go to?

[Seize-the-Day]

Hi guys, I'm going to apply for my california license this week and wondering if you guys have any tips to speed up the process? I'm hoping to be able to practice and prescribe asap after license. do you know if I can do the schedule II prescribing module on on calnp before I even getting license so that I can submit the schedule II module with my application? thank you in advance for any tips.