Nursing

License Requirements: Nurse Practitioner

General Requirements

To use the title "Nurse Practitioner" in New York State you must be certified.

To be certified as a nurse practitioner in New York State you must:

• have a currently registered New York State license as a Registered Professional Nurse (RN); and
• meet education requirements

A nurse practitioner is certified to practice in a specific specialty area. You may be certified in more than one specialty, but you must submit a separate application and fee for each specialty and demonstrate that you have satisfied the education requirements specific to that specialty area. Current specialty areas are: Acute Care, Adult Health, College Health, Community Health, Family Health, Gerontology, Holistic Nursing, Neonatology, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Oncology, Pediatrics, Palliative Care, Perinatology, Psychiatry, School Health, Women's Health.

You must file an application for certification and the other forms indicated, along with the appropriate fee, to the Office of the Professions at the address specified on each form. It is your responsibility to follow up with anyone you have asked to send us material.

The specific requirements for certification are contained in Title 8, Article 139, Section 6910 of New York's Education Law and Part 64 of the Commissioner's Regulations. For additional information regarding legal requirements for licensed professionals, see the section below on professional conduct.

You should also read the general licensing information applicable for all professions.

Fees

The fee for certification in a nurse practitioner specialty area is $80.

Fees are subject to change. The fee due is the one in law when your application is received (unless fees are increased retroactively). You will be billed for the difference if fees have been increased.

• Do not send cash.
• Make your personal check or money order payable to the New York State Education Department. Your cancelled check is your receipt.
• Mail your application and fee to:
  

  NYS Education Department, Office of the Professions
  PO Box 22063
  Albany, NY 12201

Partial Refunds

Individuals who withdraw their licensure application any time prior to a determination may be entitled to a partial refund.

• For the procedure to withdraw your application, contact the Nurse Practitioner unit at opunit3@mail.nysed.gov or by calling 518-474-3817 ext. 270 or by fax at 518-402-5354.
• The State Education Department is not responsible for any fees paid to an outside testing or credentials verification agency.

If you withdraw your application, obtain a refund, and then decide to seek New York State certification at a later date, you will be considered a new applicant, and you will be required to pay the certification and registration fees and meet the certification requirements in place at the time of reapplication.

Address or Name Changes

If your mailing address or name changes, you must contact the Department to update your records and provide the following information: your full name, social security number, profession and date of birth. Failure to provide the Department with your change of address or name will delay processing your application.

For address changes you may phone, fax or e-mail:

Phone: 518-474-3817 ext. 270
TDD/TTY: 518-473-1426
Fax: 518-402-5354
E-mail: opunit3@mail.nysed.gov

For name changes a Fax or E-mail is not acceptable. You must provide written notification of any name change with an original notarized signature to:

NYS Education Department, Office of the Professions
Division of Professional Licensing Services
Nurse Practitioner Unit
89 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12234-1000

Professional Conduct

All licensed practitioners must adhere to rules of professional conduct. The Education Law includes definitions of professional misconduct, and the Board of Regents has adopted rules defining unprofessional conduct for all professions. Every licensee is also governed by a set of laws, rules, and regulations for the practice of that specific profession.

See Title 8 of the NYS Education Law and Part 29 of the Rules of the Board of Regents for specific information.

Print copies of the relevant sections of the NYS Education Law, Rules of the Board of Regents, and the Commissioner's Regulations are available upon request from opforms@mail.nysed.gov or 518-474-3817 ext. 320.

You are also encouraged to review the requirements of Public Health Law, Article 28 - Hospitals, Section 28-03-d, Reporting Abuses of Persons Receiving Care or Services in Residential Health Care Facilities.

Education Requirements

To satisfy the education requirements for certification as a nurse practitioner, you must present evidence of satisfying the requirements of A or B or C below. Additionally, you must meet the requirements for D below.

1. Completion of a nurse practitioner educational program registered by the New York State Education Department as qualifying for certification, or a program determined by the Department to be equivalent to a registered program, which is designed and conducted to prepare graduates to practice as nurse practitioners.
   
   
2. Certification as a nurse practitioner by one of the following national certifying organizations:

   American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
   P.O. Box 12846
   Austin, TX 78711
   Phone: 512-442-4262
   Web: www.aanp.org
   
   Pediatric Nursing Certification Board
   800 South Frederick Avenue
   Suite 104
   Gaithersburg, MD 20877-4150
   Phone: 301-330-2921 or 888-641-2767
   Web: www.pncb.org
   
   American Nurses Credentialing Center
   ATT: Verification Specialist
   PO Box 791321
   Baltimore, MD 21279-1321
   Phone: 800-284-2378
   Web: www.nursecredentialing.org
   
   National Certification Corporation
   (Formerly NAACOG)
   P.O. Box 11082
   Chicago, IL 60611-0082
   Phone: 312-951-0207
   Web: www.nccnet.org (Certification for women's health, neonatal and gynecologic/reproductive nurse practitioners.)
   
   Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation
   125 Enterprise Drive
   Pittsburgh, PA 15275-1214
   Phone: 877-769-6622
   Web: www.oncc.org

3. Satisfaction of alternative certification requirements for graduates of nurse practitioner programs prior to April 1, 1989, as follows:
   
   
   • completion of at least a four-week long (full-time) nurse practitioner program prior to April 1, 1989;
     
     and either
     
     
   • two years of experience prior to April 1, 1989, of which one year must be after April 1, 1986, in the provision of primary health care services in a health care facility licensed pursuant to Article 28 of the Public Health Law or in a school health demonstration project;
     
     or
     
     
   • completion of a supplemental educational program culminating in the successful completion of a comprehensive examination or clinical evaluation. (Registered nurses should contact currently registered nurse practitioner programs for information about admission to their programs with advanced placement.)
     
     

AND

4. Satisfaction of the pharmacotherapeutic requirement (for all applicants, regardless of whether A, B, or C above was completed). You must document:
   
   
   • completion of not less than three semester hours, or the equivalent, in pharmacotherapeutics to include instruction in drug management of clients in the nurse practitioner specialty area and instruction in New York State and Federal laws and regulations relating to prescriptions and record keeping;
     
     or
     
     
   • completion of an educational program or a combination of courses which is the substantial equivalent in content and scope to the pharmacotherapeutics course listed above;
     
     or
     
     
   • satisfactory completion of an examination in pharmacotherapeutics acceptable to the Department;
     
     or
     
     
   • satisfactory completion of a nationally recognized examination acceptable for licensure in New York State as a physician assistant or for certification as a nurse midwife.
     
     
     Please Note: If you have completed a program other than a New York State licensure-qualifying program and/or your pharmacotherapeutics course did not include instruction in New York State and Federal laws and regulations related to prescriptions and record keeping, you may contact the following professional association's for required instruction:

     The Nurse Practitioner Association of New York State
     12 Corporate Drive
     Clifton Park, NY 12065
     Phone: 518-348-0719
     Web: www.thenpa.org

     The New York State Nurses Association
     11 Cornell Road
     Latham, NY, 12210-1499
     Phone: 518-782-9400 ext. 288
     Web: www.nysna.org
     Online course: New York Prescribing Information for Nurse Practitioners

Certification by Endorsement

If you are licensed or certified as a nurse practitioner in another state or country, the Department may certify you upon receipt of satisfactory evidence that you have met the substantial equivalent of the New York requirements for certification. If you do not have the substantial equivalent of all the New York requirements, you will be required to make up specific deficiencies and/or pass a proficiency examination.

Prescriptive Privilige

If you satisfy all requirements for certification as a nurse practitioner, you will be authorized to issue prescriptions pursuant to Section 6902 (3) (b) of the Education Law.

Issuance of Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Number

A Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Number is required to prescribe and dispense narcotic and dangerous drugs. New York State does not issue DEA numbers. To obtain a number you must apply to:

United States Department of Justice
Drug Enforcement Administration
99 10th Avenue
New York, NY 10011
Phone: 212-337-1593 or 800-882-9539

Controlled Substance Prescription Forms may be obtained from:

New York State Department of Health
Bureau of Controlled Substances
433 River Street, Suite 303
Troy, NY 12180
Phone: 518-402-0708

Nurse Practitioner Certification in Additional Specialty Areas of Practice

If you are certified as a nurse practitioner in one specialty area, you may be certified in one or more additional specialties by submitting evidence satisfactory to the Department that the criteria for initial certification in the additional specialty or specialties has been met, or that you have met the following alternative education and experience requirements by September 15, 2007. Applications to meet alternative education requirements must be submitted no later than September 15, 2006 in order to qualify. The window of opportunity to obtain a second specialty by the alternative criteria option will formally end on September 15, 2007.

1. Alternative education requirements. The Department may accept 60 contact hours of continuing education in the specialty area of practice in which certification is sought. It may be obtained through the completion of any combination of the following:
   
   
   1. Academic courses or continuing education programs approved by the Department or by a nursing or medical organization or accrediting agency acceptable to the Department.
   2. Evidence of preparation for the specialty by service as a presenter or lecturer in an academic or continuing education program, or by the publication in a professional journal of clinical information related to the specialty. Credit for such services or publication may not exceed 30 contact hours.
   3. Up to 12 contact hours of independent study in an academic course or continuing education program may be accepted.
   
   
   NOTE: One contact hour includes at least 50 minutes of study and one academic semester hour equals 15 contact hours and one academic quarter hour equals 12.5 contact hours.
   
   
2. Alternative experience. The Department may accept either:
   
   
   1. 1000 hours of clinical practice after April 1, 1986 in the specialty for which additional certification is sought, in a health care facility licensed pursuant to Article 28 of the Public Health Law or in a school health demonstration project,
      
      or
      
      
   2. 300 hours of clinical practice as part of a clinical practicum affiliated with a nurse practitioner program registered by the Department, or accredited by an accrediting agency acceptable to the Department.
      
      

Evidence of completion of educational programs, experience and examinations submitted to meet alternative criteria for certification as a nurse practitioner must be satisfactory to the Department, and the overall preparation of the applicant must be comparable by assessment and substantially equivalent to the preparation provided through a registered or approved program. The Department may require verification of the content and completion of the program or experience and of the satisfactory performance of the applicant by the person or institution conducting the program or in which the experience was acquired.

You must submit a separate application and $80 certification and registration fee for each specialty area for which you are seeking certification.

Practice Agreements and Practice Protocols

You must establish a practice protocol from the approved list prior to beginning practice and maintain it in the practice settings for you and your collaborating physician where it will be available to the State Education Department for inspection. You must submit Form 4NP-Verification of Practice Protocol to the Office of the Professions no later than 90 days after beginning practice.

Practice agreements must include provisions for referral and consultation, coverage for emergency absences of either the nurse practitioner or collaborating physician, resolution of disagreements between the nurse practitioner and collaborating physician regarding matters of diagnosis and treatment, and the review of patient records at least every three months by the collaborating physician; and may include such other provisions as determined by the nurse practitioner and collaborating physician to be appropriate.

Practice protocols must identify the area of practice to be performed by the nurse practitioner in collaboration with the physician and reflect accepted standards of nursing and medical practice. Protocols shall include provisions for case management, including diagnosis, treatment, and appropriate recordkeeping by the nurse practitioner; and may include other provisions determined to be appropriate by the nurse practitioner and collaborating physician.

Questions about practice agreements and practice protocols should be referred to the State Board for Nursing at 518-474-3817 ext. 120, Fax: 518-474-3706, or e-mail: nursebd@mail.nysed.gov.