The official board
Pennsylvania nursing licensure is regulated by the Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania licensure resources
- Verify a license: Nursys QuickConfirm (national) or the board — see our Pennsylvania verification guide.
- Apply by endorsement: through the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing — see the Pennsylvania endorsement guide.
- Renew a license: through the board — see the Pennsylvania renewal guide.
- Compact status: is Pennsylvania a compact state? See the Pennsylvania compact status page.
The law that governs this in Pennsylvania
Licensing a nurse in Pennsylvania happens under Pennsylvania’s own nurse practice act — the same act that defines what practice means here — administered by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing. That act is Professional Nursing Law, 63 P.S. § 211 et seq..
The compact itself is separate law. Pennsylvania adopted it at Act 68 of 2021 (Senate Bill 115), which is what allows a multistate license issued elsewhere to reach Pennsylvania at all — the practice act still decides what you may do once it does.
What Pennsylvania runs itself
Beyond the national systems, Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing publishes its own primary-source lookup — Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS) verification. 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 Pennsylvania’s route actually behaves, including what an empty result means there, is on verifying a Pennsylvania license.
Official vs independent
The Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing and Nursys are the authorities — they make decisions and hold the records. CompactStates.com explains how Pennsylvania licensure works and gets you to those sources quickly. We never charge for or monetize official board or Nursys links.
What the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing controls
Because Pennsylvania is in the compact, this board does two jobs at once: it licenses Pennsylvania residents — including issuing multistate licenses, which it has done since July 7, 2025 — and it regulates every nurse practicing in Pennsylvania 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 Professional Nursing Law, 63 P.S. § 211 et seq., and its compact role from Act 68 of 2021 (Senate Bill 115). You can read the law rather than take our word for it.
The board runs its own license lookup — Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS) verification — separate from Nursys. Where the two disagree, the board’s record controls.