PMHNP · South Carolina
Supervision Agreement for Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners in South Carolina
Yes, a written supervising-physician agreement is required. South Carolina does not name a specific instrument.
SC's Nurse Practice Act does not carve out a separate framework for psychiatric-mental health NPs — PMHNPs follow the same §40-33-34 practice agreement regime and combined 6-provider ratio cap as any other NP. This entry exists for its own page/URL/calculator weight, not a codified legal distinction.
What the supervision must look like
The rules the physician relationship has to follow. Each fact comes from the statute or board rule listed under sources.
Proximity
Available remotely (no on-site requirement)
Same standard as general NPs (§40-33-34) — no on-site or mile/minute requirement codified.
Supervision ratio
Up to 6 at a time (combined across provider types)
Same combined PA+NP+CNM+CNS cap under §40-47-195(D)(1)(c).
Chart review
Not codified — left to the agreement
Meeting cadence
Not codified — left to the agreement
Prescriptive authority
Separate prescribing terms required · controlled substances permitted
Psychiatric prescribing in practice skews toward Schedule II stimulants and Schedule III–IV benzodiazepines more heavily than general NP practice — not a different legal limit, reflected only in calculatorWeights below.
Written agreement
Required
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Same as the general `np` entry — Professional Corporation under Title 33, Chapter 19; SC's statute does not distinguish PMHNPs from other NP population foci for ownership purposes.
Legal sources for these rules (1)
What a supervising physician costs here
Typical monthly cost in South Carolina
$500 – $800
Estimate for one Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. This state's rules add a restrictive-tier premium.
About South Carolina's rules
A physician may not hold practice agreements/scope-of-practice guidelines with more than a COMBINED 6 full-time-equivalent PA+NP+CNM+CNS at once (§40-47-195(D)(1)(c)) — a single shared cap, not four separate ones. A widely-repeated '3 PA' cap was repealed in 2019 (Act 32). SC remains restricted-practice for APRNs; a 2,000-hour full-practice-authority bill (S.45/H.3580) is pending, not yet law.
Other clinicians in South Carolina: see the state overview.