The official board
Indiana nursing licensure is regulated by the Indiana State Board of Nursing. That is where applications, renewals, endorsement, and official forms live. Requirements and fees are board-set and change, so we point you to the official site rather than list figures that could go stale.
Official Indiana licensure resources
- Verify a license: Nursys QuickConfirm (national) or the board — see our Indiana verification guide.
- Apply by endorsement: through the Indiana State Board of Nursing — see the Indiana endorsement guide.
- Renew a license: through the board — see the Indiana renewal guide.
- Compact status: is Indiana a compact state? See the Indiana compact status page.
The law that governs this in Indiana
Licensing a nurse in Indiana happens under Indiana’s own nurse practice act — the same act that defines what practice means here — administered by the Indiana State Board of Nursing. That act is Ind. Code tit. 25, art. 23 (Nurses).
The compact itself is separate law. Indiana adopted it at Ind. Code tit. 25, art. 42 (Interstate Nurse Licensure Compact); residence-change duties at IC 25-42-4-3 and 25-42-4-4, which is what allows a multistate license issued elsewhere to reach Indiana at all — the practice act still decides what you may do once it does.
What Indiana runs itself
Beyond the national systems, Indiana State Board of Nursing publishes its own primary-source lookup — Indiana PLA free search & verify. Where a board runs its own, that is the record the board itself works from, which can matter when a national system and a board disagree or lag. How Indiana’s route actually behaves, including what an empty result means there, is on verifying a Indiana license.
Official vs independent
The Indiana State Board of Nursing and Nursys are the authorities — they make decisions and hold the records. CompactStates.com explains how Indiana licensure works and gets you to those sources quickly. We never charge for or monetize official board or Nursys links.
What the Indiana State Board of Nursing controls
Because Indiana is in the compact, this board does two jobs at once: it licenses Indiana residents — including issuing multistate licenses, which it has done since July 1, 2020 — and it regulates every nurse practicing in Indiana on another state’s multistate license. A visiting compact nurse answers to this board while working here, even though it never issued them anything.
Its authority comes from Ind. Code tit. 25, art. 23 (Nurses), and its compact role from Ind. Code tit. 25, art. 42 (Interstate Nurse Licensure Compact); residence-change duties at IC 25-42-4-3 and 25-42-4-4. You can read the law rather than take our word for it.
The board runs its own license lookup — Indiana PLA free search & verify — separate from Nursys. Where the two disagree, the board’s record controls.