The online process to apply for an APRN license is active. Please access Online Services to submit an application online.
Initial Licensure: To be eligible for licensure an applicant must:
- Have a current Minnesota Registered Nurse (RN) license or eligibility for licensure
- Must not hold an encumbered RN license in another state or territory
- Complete a graduate-level APRN program accredited by a nursing or nursing-related accrediting body that is recognized by the United States Secretary of Education or Council for Higher Education Accreditation as acceptable to the Minnesota Board of Nursing or must demonstrate compliance with the APRN education requirements that were in effect in Minnesota at the time the applicant completed the advanced practice nursing education program. The list of Council of Higher Education Accreditation Organizations as acceptable to the Minnesota Board of Nursing can be found on the Minnesota Board of Nursing Education page. The education must be in one of the four roles and one of the six population foci appropriate to the education.
- Roles: Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Midwife, Registered Nurse Anesthetist
- Populations: Family and Individual Across the Lifespan, Adult-Gerontology, Neonatal, Pediatrics, Women's and Gender-Related Health, Psychiatric and Mental Health
- If the APRN program was completed after January 1, 2016, the program must have included at least one graduate-level course in each of the following areas: advanced physiology and pathophysiology; advanced health assessment; and pharmacokinetics and phamacotherapeutics of all broad categories of agent
- Complete the first page of the Confirmation of Program Completion for Advanced Practice Registered Nurse form and forward the two-page form to the APRN program you completed by fax, email, or mail. The APRN program must mail both pages to the Board.
- Current certification by a national certifying body recognized by the board in the APRN role and one of the six population foci
- Certification in the adult- or gerontology- only population for those applicants who obtained certification prior to November 1, 2017, will be considered as certification in adult-gerontology and the individual will be deemed eligible for APRN licensure.
- Request documentation of your current certification in good standing be sent directly from the certifying organization to the Minnesota Board of Nursing by mail or email.
- Complete the Confirmation of Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Employment form and return to the Minnesota Board of Nursing by fax, email, or mail. If it has been more than five years since you have practiced as an APRN or have completed the APRN program, you will need to complete a Board-approved reorientation plan upon licensure. Please contact the Minnesota Board of Nursing for more information.
- CNS and CNP applicants need to submit the Post-Graduate Practice Verification form when the application is submitted and must complete and submit the Post-Graduate Practice Verification form upon completion of the 2,080 post-graduate practice hours within the context of a collaborative agreement within a hospital or integrated clinical setting where APRNs and physicians work together or if the applicant was listed on the Minnesota APRN Registry as of July 1, 2014. If the applicant has completed 2,080 hours of APRN practice in another state, a licensed Minnesota APRN or a physician from any state with whom the applicant has worked with may complete the verification section. The form may be faxed, emailed, or mailed into the Board.
- Report any criminal convictions, nolo contendere plea, Alford plea other plea arrangement
- Must not have committed any acts or omissions which are grounds for disciplinary action in another jurisdiction that would be grounds for disciplinary action in section 148.261 or restitution has been met.
- Complete criminal background check. If you have already complete a background check with the Board of Nursing, the criminal background check results are valid for one year from the date the background check results were received by the Board and a second background check will not be required. If more than one year has elapsed since the results were received by the Board, then an applicant who has not completed the licensing process must complete a new background check.
The fingerprinting and criminal background check requirement for licensure with the Minnesota Board of Nursing is independent of any other fingerprinting or background check you may have done in the past or will have done in the future. You must complete the Minnesota Board of Nursing background check process as instructed.
- CRNAs who practice non-surgical pain management must complete the Verification of CRNA Written Prescribing Agreement form. The form can be faxed, emailed, or mailed into the Board.
Additional Requirement for Applicants Educated Outside of the United States
- Request a Summary of Evaluation of Educational Credentials Report from the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS). CGFNS evaluates the advanced practice nursing education to determine equivalency to the education required in the same type of advanced practice nursing education program in the United States. Please email nursing.education@state.mn.us, to request contact information for the CGFNS Specialist responsible for processing the advanced practice nurse education summary reports.
Application Packet:
Application Packet Individual Pages:
