PMHNP · Nebraska
Collaborative Practice Agreement for Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners in Nebraska
Yes, a written physician agreement is required. Nebraska does not name a specific instrument.
Nebraska's Nurse Practitioner Practice Act does not create a separate framework for psychiatric-mental-health NPs — PMHNPs follow the same 2,000-hour transition model as any other NP population focus. Nebraska law separately authorizes certified PMHNPs to manage the care of patients committed under the Nebraska Mental Health Commitment Act (§ 38-2315).
Independent practice requires: ≥2,000 hours of practice under a transition-to-practice, collaborative, integrated, or independent-practice arrangement (or combination) — identical threshold to general NP.
What the collaboration must look like
The rules the physician relationship has to follow. Each fact comes from the statute or board rule listed under sources.
Proximity
during the 2,000-hour transition-to-practice period: Available remotely (no on-site requirement)
Same standard as general NPs — 'readily available for consultation and direction,' no codified radius.
after completing the 2,000-hour threshold: No proximity requirement
No ongoing proximity/availability requirement once independent.
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified — left to the agreement
Meeting cadence
Not codified — left to the agreement
Prescriptive authority
Covered by the practice agreement · controlled substances permitted
Psychiatric prescribing in practice skews toward Schedule II stimulants and Schedule IV benzodiazepines/hypnotics more heavily than general primary-care NP prescribing — not a different legal limit, reflected only in calculatorWeights below.
Written agreement
Required
Required only during the pre-threshold transition-to-practice period, same as general NP.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Same as the general `np` entry — Professional LLC under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-190; Nebraska's statute does not distinguish PMHNPs from other NP population foci for ownership purposes.
Legal sources for these rules (3)
- Neb. Rev. Stat. § 38-2317 — Nurse Practitioner; Licensure; Requirementssecondary
- Neb. Rev. Stat. § 38-2315 — Psychiatric/Mental-Health NP Authority Under the Nebraska Mental Health Commitment Act
- Nebraska DHHS — Statutes Relating to Nurse Practitioner Practice Act
What a collaborating physician costs here
Typical monthly cost in Nebraska
$500 – $600
Estimate for one Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. Standard-tier state.
About Nebraska's rules
LB 107 (2015) replaced ongoing APRN physician collaboration with a one-time 2,000-hour transition-to-practice period for nurse practitioners; whether CRNAs and CNSs follow the identical threshold (vs. a different or no threshold) could not be fully confirmed against primary statute text in this pass — verify before relying on those two entries. CNMs remain the most restricted category, unaffected by that reform.
Other clinicians in Nebraska: see the state overview.