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Advanced Practice Licensure

Initial Requirements for Advanced Licensure: NDAC 54-05-03.1-04

1. If you have not created your North Dakota Nurse Portal account, you will need to create one first, then select the application for the APRN role desired.
2. If you already have created your North Dakota Nurse Portal account, you will need to log in and select the application for the APRN role desired.

Applicants for Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) licensure must:

1. Satisfy the RN license requirement by meeting one of the below:
   1. Hold an active unencumbered North Dakota RN license.
   2. Hold an active unencumbered Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) multistate RN license in another NLC state if you are claiming another NLC state as your primary state of residence.
      1. To verify if your RN license is multistate, please visit www.nursys.com. To learn more about the NLC, please visit: www.nursecompact.com
      2. APRN Licensure is not a part of the NLC, all APRN licenses are single-state.
   3. If you do not hold an ND RN license or NLC multistate license from another state, you must first apply to the ND Board of Nursing for Initial RN License by Endorsement through your Nurse Profile.


2. Submit an official copy of your transcript for your Advanced Practice nursing program to the North Dakota Board of Nursing directly from the school or through a preferred third-party transcript service. Copies sent from the applicant, unofficial copies, faxed copies, and emailed copies will not be accepted.
   1. The preferred method for fastest delivery and processing is electronically using a third-party transcript service:
      1. Parchment: www.parchment.com
      2. National Student Clearinghouse: www.studentclearinghouse.org/
   2. Your program can also mail a paper copy directly to us at:
      North Dakota Board of Nursing
      919 S 7th Street, Suite 504
      Bismarck, ND 58504
   3. If prompted by a secure transcript service to enter an email address for ND Board of Nursing use: transcripts@ndbon.org


3. Submit evidence of current certification by a national nursing certifying body for the APRN role and population focus appropriate to the educational preparation. Certification must be submitted directly from the certifying organization to the ND Board of Nursing and be in high resolution format. Low-resolution documents that cannot be read will be rejected.
   1. The certifying organization may email the verification to aprn@ndbon.org
   2. You can find a list of the NDBON approved certifying organizations at: www.ndbon.org/NurseLicensure/APRN/CertifyingExams.asp


4. Prescriptive Authority (54-05-03.1-09):
   To include prescriptive authority within your scope of practice, you must apply for prescriptive authority by completing the appropriate fields within the APRN application. If you do not apply for prescriptive authority on your initial APRN application, you will be able to apply for it separately at a later date. Below are the requirements for Prescriptive Authority:
   1. Provide evidence of completion of 30 contact hours of education or equivalent in pharmacotherapy related to the applicant's scope of advanced practice that:
      1. Have been obtained within a three-year period of time immediately prior to the date of application for prescriptive authority or recent graduates who have completed pharmacology courses taken within the last 3 years may meet the requirement.
      2. Within the APRN application, when applying for Prescriptive Authority, upload:
         1. Course certificates must specify the number of Pharmacology hours.
         2. Ensure all pages are oriented in the same direction
         3. Do not include duplicate certificates
         4. UpToDate activity certificates DO NOT meet the requirement for pharmacology-specific CE.
         5. Combine certificates into as few documents as possible (24 mb limit per file)


5. Complete a Criminal History Record Check (CHRC) if you have not completed one for the ND Board of Nursing in the past 180 days.
   1. CHRC instructions are found at: www.ndbon.org/NurseLicensure/CHRC/Index.asp

Eligibility for APRN Licensure Based on Pre-2016 Qualifications

An applicant for licensure as an APRN who completed an advanced nursing education program and was licensed or certified in advanced practice before December 31, 2015, may apply for and receive an advanced practice license if that applicant meets the requirements that were in effect at the time the applicant qualified for initial advanced practice licensure.

Temporary Permit

A nonrenewable 90-day temporary permit without prescriptive authority may be issued upon director review and approval. There is no additional fee, application, or request required to receive a temporary permit. Temporary permits are posted online only at the ND BON verification portal: ndbon.boardsofnursing.org/ndbn

Full Licensure

To receive a full license the following must be received and verified/approved:

• RN licensure in ND or another compact state
• APRN Application
• Official transcript(s)
• Pharmacotherapy CEs if applying for Prescriptive Authority
• Current certification
• Criminal History Record Check (CHRC)

It is your responsibility to keep your certification and demographics up to date in your ND nurse profile: ndbon.boardsofnursing.org/ndbn

Correspondence regarding your application or license

Please provide 5-10 business days for processing all items and responses to inquiries. All correspondence is required to be sent through the Nurse Portal unless otherwise instructed to do differently. Please do not submit redundant inquiries or to multiple departments/teams, as we will route any correspondence to the correct team. You can check your application or license status any time in your Nurse Portal account.