Nurses deliver the bulk of the care in hospitals and nursing facilities, but patients often don’t have a say in the nurses assigned to care for them. Each state has a different process for looking up nurses’ licenses and getting disciplinary records, if there are any. Every state has its own licensing agency and most also post information on a national database called Nursys, run by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). Sometimes nurses are disciplined by one state in which they have a license but not another.
About half of states participate in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), which allow nurses to practice in multiple states with one license. When looking up nurses that are part of the compact, search for nurses in the state in which they were initially licensed. Previous reporting from ProPublica has found that the compact enabled problematic nurses to cross state lines and continue practicing.
We compiled the chart below to show you how to look up a nurse’s license online and obtain any related disciplinary documents in each state. Unless otherwise noted, disciplinary documents can be accessed through a nurse’s license verification page.
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| State (click to look up a license) | Full disciplinary history online? | Participates in multistate licensing? | How to contact medical boards | Lists of recent board actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No | No | Alabama does not participate in the national database, so you must use the state board website to investigate nurses. Contact Alabama’s nursing board for disciplinary documents at abn@abn.alabama.gov or (334) 293-5200. | Lists of disciplined nurses since 1999 |
| Alaska | No | No | For disciplinary documents, contact Alaska’s professional licensing office at (907) 465-2550 or license@alaska.gov. | Recent disciplinary actions |
| Arizona | Yes | Yes | For more information, contact Arizona’s nursing board at (602) 771-7875 or arizona@azbn.gov. | Lists of disciplined nurses since 2004 |
| Arkansas | Yes | Yes | Disciplinary documents are available for a fee on the state website. Some documents are available through the national database. For more information, contact Arkansas’ nursing board at (501) 686-2700. | Lists of disciplined nurses since 2007 |
| California | Yes | No | For more information, contact California’s nursing board at (916) 322-3350 or BRN.Licensing@dca.ca.gov. | ProPublica’s list of California nurses disciplined from 2002 to 2009 |
| Colorado | Yes | Yes | For more information, contact Colorado’s Department of Regulatory Agencies at registrations@state.co.us or 303-894-7800. | Lists of nurses disciplined since 2005 |
| Connecticut | Yes | No | For more information, contact Connecticut’s Practitioner Licensing Unit at (860) 509-7603. | A list of recently disciplined nurses |
| Delaware | Yes | Yes | For more information, contact Delaware’s nursing board at (302) 744-4500 or customerservice.dpr@state.de.us. | A list of all disciplined nurses since 1990 |
| District of Columbia | Yes | No | Some disciplinary documents can be accessed on each nurse’s license verification page. If disciplinary information is not available online, contact the Health Regulation and License Administration at (202) 724-4900. | Look up nurses to find details |
| Florida | Yes | No | Some disciplinary documents can be accessed on each nurse’s license verification page. If disciplinary information is not available online, search for a nurse via the Final Order and Emergency Action search engine. For more information, contact Florida’s licensing department at (850) 488-0595. | Disciplinary reports home page |
| Georgia | Yes | No | For more information, contact Georgia’s licensing board at (478) 207-2440. | List of recent nursing board actions |
| Hawaii | Yes | No | To access documents, look up disciplinary records in a central database. For more information, contact Hawaii’s Office of Administrative Hearings at (808) 586-2828 or oah@dcca.hawaii.gov. | List of monthly disciplinary actions (nurses included with other professionals) |
| Idaho | Yes | Yes | Some disciplinary documents can be accessed on each nurse’s license verification page. If disciplinary information is not available online, contact the board at (208) 334-3110, extension 2476. | Disciplinary reports home page |
| Illinois | Yes | Pending | For a nursing disciplinary documents, look up a nurse through the national database. If documents are not available, fax a request letter to the division of professional regulation at (217) 557-8073. Include your contact information as well as the license number, full name, and city of the person about whom you are requesting records. | Lists of nurses disciplined since 2003 (nurses included with other professionals) |
| Indiana | Yes | No | Disciplinary documents cannot be found on each nurse’s license verification page. For disciplinary information, select advanced search on the central litigation documents page, and search the disciplined nurse by name. For more information, contact Indiana’s nursing board at (317) 234-2043. | Disciplinary reports home page (select nursing board) |
| Iowa | Yes | Yes | To verify a license on Iowa’s website, you must know the nurse’s license number. For more information, contact Iowa’s nursing board at (515) 281-3255. | List of recent nursing board actions |
| Kansas | Yes | No | Disciplinary documents can be found on the central discipline page. If records are not available, file a request with the board at (785) 296-4929. | List of disciplined nurses |
| Kentucky | Yes | Yes | For disciplinary documents, look up a disciplined nurse in the national database. For more information, contact Kentucky’s nursing board at (800) 621-8222. | List of disciplined nurses |
| Louisiana | No | No | For disciplinary documents, file a formal request with Louisiana’s state board. For more information, call the board at (225) 755-7500. | Lists of disciplined nurses |
| Maine | Yes | Yes | Disciplinary case details and documents may be available if the violation occurred after November 14, 2011. For violations prior to November 14, 2011, check the national website. For more information, contact the state board at (207) 287-1133. | Lists of disciplined nurses |
| Maryland | Yes | Yes | Some disciplinary case details and documents are available online. If disciplinary information is not available, contact Keva Jackson-McCoy at the Maryland Board of Nursing at (410) 585-1953. | Lists of recently disciplined nurses |
| Massachusetts | Yes | Pending | Some disciplinary documents are available on the national website. If the documents are not available, contact Eugenia Anderson at (617) 973-0800 and complete a formal request. | List of disciplined nurses since January 2006 |
| Michigan | No | No | To access disciplinary documents, send a FOIA request to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Health Care Services, Administrative Support Division, Freedom of Information Coordinator, PO Box 30670, Lansing, MI 48909. You can also fax your request to (517) 241-2635. | List of disciplinary actions (nurses included with other professionals) |
| Minnesota | Yes | Pending | Verifying a nurse’s license requires free registration as a ‘public user.’ For more information, contact Minnesota’s board at (612) 317-3034. | A list of recently disciplined nurses |
| Mississippi | No | Yes | To verify a license online, you need a nurse’s last name and either his/her license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number. Click on more information on a nurse’s page to access disciplinary documents. The board charges $20 for copies of each disciplinary order. Some documents are available through the national database. For more information, contact the board at (601) 957-6300. | Lists of nurses disciplined since 2002 |
| Missouri | Yes | Yes | Disciplinary documents are available through the national database. For more information, call Missouri’s board at (573) 751-0681. | Disciplinary actions listed in the board’s newsletter |
| Montana | Yes | No | For more information, contact Montana’s nursing board at (406) 841-2202. | Disciplinary actions listed in the board’s newsletter |
| Nebraska | Yes | Yes | Some disciplinary documents are available on each nurse’s license verification page. If disciplinary documents are not available, search the national database. For more information, contact Nebraska’s board at (402) 471-2117. | Look up disciplined nurses in the national database |
| Nevada | Yes | No | To verify a license online, you need a nurse’s first and last name, or his/her license number. Some documents are available through the national database. For more information, contact Nevada’s board at (888) 590-6726. | Lists of nurses disciplined since 2003 |
| New Hampshire | Yes | Yes | For more information, contact Susan Goodness at New Hampshire’s nursing board office: (603) 271-3823. | Disciplinary actions listed in the board’s newsletter (look under publications.) |
| New Jersey | Yes | No | Some disciplinary documents can be found on the board website. For more information, contact New Jersey’s board at (973) 504-6430 or bondisciplineinquery@dca.lps.state.nj.us. | Lists of nurses disciplined since 2004 |
| New Mexico | Yes | Yes | Some documents can be found through the national database. For those that are unavailable, contact New Mexico’s nursing board at (505) 841-9055. | Lists of disciplined nurses since 2001 |
| New York | No | Pending | To access disciplinary documents, contact New York’s Office of the Professions’ Public Information Unit at dplsdsu@mail.nysed.gov or (518) 474-3817 ext. 330. | Lists of nurses disciplined since 1994 (nurses listed with other professionals) |
| North Carolina | Yes | Yes | Disciplinary documents are available through the national database. For disciplinary documents prior to November 2006, contact North Carolina’s board at (919) 782-3211 ext. 283 or 240. | List of disciplinary actions |
| North Dakota | Yes | Yes | To verify a license online, you need a nurse’s license number or Social Security number. For more information, contact North Dakota’s board at (701) 328-9777 or by fax at (701) 328-9785. | Disciplinary actions included in the board’s meeting minutes |
| Ohio | Yes | No | Some disciplinary documents are available on each nurse’s license verification page. If a document isn’t available, contact the board at (614) 466-9558 or disciplinary@nursing.ohio.gov. | Lists of disciplined nurses since 2012 |
| Oklahoma | Yes | No | Oklahoma does not participate in the national database, so you must use the state verification page to look up a nurse. For disciplinary documents prior to 2009, file a formal request with the board. For more information, contact the board at (405) 962-1800. | Lists of nurses disciplined since 2006 |
| Oregon | Yes | No | For disciplinary actions that occurred before 2010, contact Oregon’s nursing board at osbn.records@state.or.us to obtain documents. | List of nurses disciplined in the past year |
| Pennsylvania | No | No | Disciplinary documents are not available on each nurse’s license verification page. Contact Pennsylvania’s board at ra-prothonotary@state.pa.us for more information. | Lists of nurses disciplined in the past year (nurses listed with other professionals) |
| Rhode Island | Yes | Yes | Some disciplinary documents are available on a central discipline page. If a document isn’t available, contact Rhode Island’s board at (401) 222-5700. | List of nurses disciplined |
| South Carolina | Yes | Yes | Look up a nurse through the central discipline page. Contact South Carolina’s board for more information at (803) 896-4550. | List of recent disciplined nurses |
| South Dakota | Yes | Yes | Disciplinary documents since 1986 are available on a central discipline page. For more information, contact South Dakota’s board at (605) 362-2760. | List of disciplinary actions since 1986 |
| Tennessee | Yes | Yes | For more information, contact Tennessee’s nursing board at (615) 532-5166. | Lists of nurses disciplined since 2004 (nurses are listed with other professionals) |
| Texas | Yes | Yes | For more information, contact Texas’ nursing board at (512) 305-7400. | Lists of disciplinary actions since 2004 |
| Utah | Yes | Yes | For more information, contact Utah’s nursing board at (801) 530-6628. | Lists of disciplinary actions since 1999 (nurses included with other professionals) |
| Vermont | Yes | No | Disciplinary documents are available on a central discipline page. For more information, contact Vermont’s nursing board at (802) 828-2396. | List of disciplined nurses |
| Virginia | Yes | Yes | For more information, contact Virginia’s nursing board at (804) 367-4515. | List of recent disciplinary actions |
| Washington | Yes | No | For more information, contact Washington’s nursing board at (360) 236-4700. | Disciplinary actions are listed in the board’s newsletter |
| West Virginia | No | No | Disciplinary documents are not available online. Contact West Virginia’s nursing board at (304) 558-3596 or rnboard@state.wv.us for more information. | Lists of disciplined nurses |
| Wisconsin | Yes | Yes | Disciplinary documents are available through a central discipline page. For more information, contact Wisconsin’s nursing board at dsps@wisconsin.gov. | Use the central discipline database to search for nurses. |
| Wyoming | Yes | No | For more information, contact Wyoming’s nursing board at (307) 777-7616 or wsbn.compliance@wyo.gov. | List of disciplinary actions |
