This free PMHNP cheat sheet boils the ANCC PMHNP-BC Test Content Outline down to a printable rundown of the psychiatric and pharmacology facts examiners test most. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Reinforce it with the rest of your free PMHNP toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
PMHNP exam at a glance
- Questions: 175 total (150 scored + 25 unscored pretest)
- Time: 3.5 hours (computer-based at Prometric)
- Passing score: scaled score of 350 or higher (scale 100-500); pass/fail
- Certifying body: American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)
- Cost: ~$395 non-member / ~$295 ANA member (includes $140 non-refundable admin fee; verify at nursingworld.org)
What’s on the PMHNP cheat sheet
- Advanced Practice Skills (27%) — the largest domain — clinical interviewing, motivational interviewing, screening-tool selection and interpretation, the mental status exam, and risk assessment.
- Scientific Foundation (22%) — neuroanatomy and neurotransmitters, the four dopamine pathways, pharmacokinetics and CYP450 interactions, and the EPS/NMS/serotonin-syndrome syndromes.
- Diagnosis and Treatment (22%) — DSM-5-TR criteria and the medication classes — antidepressants, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, ADHD and addiction agents — with their monitoring and boxed warnings.
- Ethics, Legal Principles & Cultural Care (17%) — consent and capacity, confidentiality (HIPAA, 42 CFR Part 2), civil commitment, Tarasoff duty, and culturally responsive care.
- Psychotherapy and Related Theories (11%) — CBT, DBT, and other modalities, change and developmental theories, and the therapeutic alliance.
How to use it in your final week
- Print it and keep it next to your question sets — review one domain, then immediately drill that content area so the psychopharm facts stick.
- Front-load Advanced Practice Skills — at 27 percent it's the largest domain, so interviewing, screening-tool interpretation, and risk assessment move your score the most.
- Do a final morning-of pass on the memory hooks — the four dopamine pathways, EPS by timing, NMS versus serotonin syndrome, and lithium's 0.8-1.2 mEq/L range.
- Don't cram in isolation — pair each review pass with timed DSM-5-TR diagnosis and medication items so the recognize-then-decide flow stays automatic.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your PMHNP practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
PMHNP cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the PMHNP cheat sheet downloads as a PDF with no sign-up and no account. It sits alongside the rest of your free PMHNP toolkit here: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
It condenses the highest-yield facts for the ANCC PMHNP-BC: the five weighted content domains, the four dopamine pathways and their D2-blockade effects, the EPS-by-timing table, the NMS-versus-serotonin-syndrome distinction, lithium and other narrow-index drug monitoring, and the screening-tool cutoffs (PHQ-9, GAD-7, CIWA-Ar, COWS).
It reflects ANCC's current PMHNP-BC Test Content Outline and DSM-5-TR diagnostic terminology, plus recent label changes such as the FDA's 2025 removal of the Clozapine REMS. We check it against ANCC and FDA/DailyMed sources regularly.
No — the PMHNP-BC tests applied clinical judgment across 175 items in 3.5 hours, not raw recall, so a reference sheet cannot replace reasoning practice. Use it to lock in the psychopharmacology and monitoring facts, then drill full-length, blueprint-weighted questions to build readiness.
Click the download button or the preview card at the top of this page and the PDF opens instantly. Bookmark the page so it's easy to pull up during your final week of review.
References
- 1.American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). “PMHNP-BC Test Content Outline.” nursingworld.org, 2026. ↑
- 2.American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). “Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (Across the Lifespan) Certification.” nursingworld.org, 2026. ↑
- 3.American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). “Scores, Retest & Application — scaled-score policy.” nursingworld.org, 2026. ↑
- 4.American Psychiatric Association. “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR).” psychiatry.org, 2026. ↑
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