NP Licenses

NP certification exams are administered by national specialty boards such as ANCC (ANP, FNP, ACNP, GNP, PMHNP), PNCB (PNP, ACPNP), and NCC (WHNP, NNP). Some national NP organizations such as AANP (ANP, FNP) and specialty nursing organizations such as AACN (ACNP) also offer certification exams. Although requirements for NP certification and practice vary among states, these national certifications are recognized by the states as the standard for verifying the NP's competence to practice their field. Any NP who obtained certification through these national exams will have no problem obtaining certification in another state should the need arise. Like you mentioned, it is all a matter of completing paperwork but also making sure that other requirements (aside from certification) are also met in the state the NP wishes to be certified in.

P.S. To other NP's in the forum: if I failed to mention a certifying board from the above, please don't hesitate to add. There's so many of them it is so hard to keep track.

Not all states grant licensure as a nurse practitioner. Michigan grants an advanced practice specialty certification as an NP, CRNA, or CNM. It is considered a certification that is only valid if the RN licensure is current and the NP passed an approved national certification exam.

I said that NP's who are nationally certified will have no problem being certified in another state but should have added that not all states require national certification. If an NP who practices in a state that does not require national certification move to a state that does, then that NP will need to take the national certification exam to meet that state's requirement for NP practice.

True, that requirement dates back to the time when there were NP programs that were not offered at the master's degree level. None of those exist anymore and certification boards are now requiring master's degree preparation for eligibility to sit for examination. There was also a time in Michigan when clinical nurse specialists were eligible for state certification as nurse practitioners but that practice ended in the 1990's. I wish the state would once again recognize the CNS role as part of the umbrella of advanced practice nursing and give protection to that title.