The official board
Maryland nursing licensure is regulated by the Maryland 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 Maryland licensure resources
- Verify a license: Nursys QuickConfirm (national) or the board — see our Maryland verification guide.
- Apply by endorsement: through the Maryland Board of Nursing — see the Maryland endorsement guide.
- Renew a license: through the board — see the Maryland renewal guide.
- Compact status: is Maryland a compact state? See the Maryland compact status page.
The law that governs this in Maryland
Licensing a nurse in Maryland happens under Maryland’s own nurse practice act — the same act that defines what practice means here — administered by the Maryland Board of Nursing. That act is Md. Code, Health Occupations, tit. 8 (Nurses).
The compact itself is separate law. Maryland adopted it at Md. Code, Health Occupations §§ 8-7A-01 to 8-7A-05 (Nurse Licensure Compact); board authority at § 8-205(a)(1), which is what allows a multistate license issued elsewhere to reach Maryland at all — the practice act still decides what you may do once it does.
What Maryland runs itself
Beyond the national systems, Maryland Board of Nursing publishes its own primary-source lookup — Maryland CHART license lookup. 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 Maryland’s route actually behaves, including what an empty result means there, is on verifying a Maryland license.
Official vs independent
The Maryland Board of Nursing and Nursys are the authorities — they make decisions and hold the records. CompactStates.com explains how Maryland licensure works and gets you to those sources quickly. We never charge for or monetize official board or Nursys links.
What the Maryland Board of Nursing controls
Because Maryland is in the compact, this board does two jobs at once: it licenses Maryland residents — including issuing multistate licenses, which it has done since January 19, 2018 — and it regulates every nurse practicing in Maryland 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 Md. Code, Health Occupations, tit. 8 (Nurses), and its compact role from Md. Code, Health Occupations §§ 8-7A-01 to 8-7A-05 (Nurse Licensure Compact); board authority at § 8-205(a)(1). You can read the law rather than take our word for it.
The board runs its own license lookup — Maryland CHART license lookup — separate from Nursys. Where the two disagree, the board’s record controls.