Nursing Licensure By State

Nurses at all levels must be licensed by the state where they work. This helps ensure that all nurses are competent to perform their own unique scope of practice. Each nursing career, and each state, has their own set of licensure requirements around education, examination, and experience. While there are often significant areas of overlap, there are also many nuanced differences. 

In most cases, nursing degree programs will align their curricula with the licensure requirements of their state, but in a world of online and hybrid learning, small disparities can have big consequences. A nurse in New York who earned their nursing degree from a university in Texas may meet several, but not all, of the requirements for licensure in their home state. Too often, the most relevant details are scattered across several different sources and buried in sometimes contradictory jargon. 

Obtaining and maintaining licensure is one of the most important steps in a nurse’s career. It shouldn’t have to be confusing. Below, we’ve collected the most detailed state-by-state licensure information available, all in one place.