Audit PMHNP Job Requirements Before You Recruit

1. Begin with the tasks the role will own

Use the current care model and a representative week to list the work. Include patient population, visit types, clinical collaboration, coordination, documentation, technology, and coverage. Identify responsibilities that belong to supporting roles so the PMHNP position is described accurately.

OPM’s job-analysis guidance connects tasks with the competencies needed to perform them. Use that method to test the requirements in your advertisement. For every proposed qualification, ask which task it supports and why it matters at entry. This is an organizing method; clinical and regulatory requirements must be confirmed by the appropriate owners for the actual setting.

• Review the care model behind the PMHNP position

2. Separate verified requirements from assumptions

Ask credentialing and clinical leadership to identify the authorizations and qualifications required for the population, location, setting, and work. Record the source, verification date, owner, and stage by which each item must be complete. Have the organization confirm any payer or facility requirements it relies on.

Avoid treating an old advertisement, a résumé label, or familiarity with a previous hire as the authoritative source. Keep licensing, certification, privileges, and payer readiness distinct. A requirement may be real but have a different completion deadline from another item. State those deadlines accurately so the recruiting team can explain the process.

• Required item and the work it supports.
• Current source and responsible verification owner.
• What must exist at application, offer, or start.
• What evidence the employer will verify directly.

3. Describe experience through observable work

Review broad phrases such as “high-volume experience,” “independent practitioner,” or “strong clinical background.” Ask what those phrases mean in this specific position. Convert them into experiences or capabilities the interview can explore, such as working with the relevant population or coordinating within the care model.

If you retain a years-of-experience threshold, document the reason and have HR review it. More years do not explain whether a person has performed the work your team needs. Keep current, role-relevant evidence at the center of the conversation, and avoid allowing vague preferences to become inconsistent rejection rules.

4. Decide which capabilities can be developed

Identify skills the organization can support through an approved orientation, supervised learning, or training plan. Name the resource, person, time, and assessment needed. A capability belongs in this category only when leaders can explain how the development will happen.

For example, familiarity with your specific EHR may be learnable through onboarding, while another qualification may be required before the clinician can perform a duty. Let the responsible leaders make that distinction. The audit should help the team describe realistic support without implying that training can replace mandatory authorization or required competence.

• Entry requirement: the candidate must already demonstrate it.
• Development plan: the employer has an approved way to teach and assess it.
• Preference: useful, but the team can consider an equivalent background.

5. Build the same screen for every candidate

Create a short review worksheet with each requirement, the relevant evidence, and the reviewer. Establish how missing information is clarified before a decision. Use the same criteria in recruiter conversations and clinical interviews, and record material changes to the role for all active candidates.

Keep interview questions focused on the work. EEOC guidance distinguishes questions about performing job-related functions from prohibited pre-offer medical or disability inquiries. Have HR review the process and the applicable requirements. A qualification audit should produce an accurate role screen while preserving the organization’s established employment and accommodation procedures.

6. Publish a concise, accurate qualification section

Rewrite the advertisement around the approved decisions. Use separate required and preferred sections, describe the care setting, and explain any supported learning path. Ensure the hiring leader, recruiter, and interviewers use the same version. Review the text when the care model or requirements change.

A useful final check is to ask whether the team can explain every requirement to a candidate and assess it in a consistent way. If a line remains only because it appeared in an older posting, return it to the responsible owner for review. Cornerstone can help translate an approved role into a focused permanent search.

• Build a PMHNP search brief clinicians can evaluate