Overview
The mission of the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services is to promote economic growth and stability while protecting the citizens of Wisconsin as designated by statute.
Registered Nursing (RN) & Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Licensure by Examination
Applicants Must Meet the Following Requirements:
- Graduated from or completed a WI Board-Approved School or comparable school of Professional/Practical Nursing Program.
- Graduated from high school (two years are required for LPN) or its equivalent.
- Does not have an arrest or conviction record, subject to the Fair Employment Act. For more information see Convictions and Pending Charges Form.
- Complete the application.
- Submit appropriate fees made payable to DSPS.
- Complete and forward the WI Board Approved Statement of Graduation or Completion form to your Board-Approved School of Nursing. This form must be returned directly from your school to the WI Board of Nursing. Forms received from the applicant will be rejected by the Board. This form should not be completed by your school of nursing until you have actually graduated from or completed the Board-Approved School of Professional/Practical Nursing Program.
Note: For WI Board-approved schools only.
Submit official transcript. This must be sent directly from your school to the WI Board of Nursing. Official transcripts received from the applicant will be rejected by the Board.
Note: For Non-WI Board-approved schools only.
- RN foreign graduates must contact the Commission of Foreign Nursing Schools at 3600 Market St., Suite 400, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2651, or via (215) 349-8767, to request a valid certificate be sent directly to the WI Board of Nursing. Certificates received from the applicant will be rejected by the Board.
- LPN foreign graduates must contact the Commission of Foreign Nursing Schools at 3600 Market St., Suite 400, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2651, or via (215) 349-8767, to request a valid CES report to be sent directly to the WI Board of Nursing. Reports received from the applicant will be rejected by the Board.
- LPN foreign graduates must contact the Test of English as a Foreign Language at P.O. Box 6151, Princeton, NJ 08541-6151, or International English Language Testing System at ielts.org , to request a copy of the test result scores be sent directly to the WI Board of Nursing. Certificates received from the applicant will be rejected by the Board.
- Register with Pearson VUE to take the NCLEX exam. You may use any of the following ways to complete the registration:
- Register online. The registration fee of $200 can be paid via American Express, Visa, or MasterCard. OR
- By mail: You may request the Board of Nursing office to send an NCLEX registration form. Provide essential details in the form and include an appropriate fee of $200.00 in the form of a money order or cashiers check made payable to the NCSBN (National Council of State Boards of Nursing). Mail it to the following address:
NCLEX Operations
Post Office Box 64950
St. Paul, Minnesota- 55164-0950
- When all your essential documents are approved, the Board will inform the testing agency, Pearson VUE, making you eligible to take the licensure exam.
- Pearson VUE will send you an ATT (Authorization to Test) via email or on the address provided by you during the registration process.
- Upon receiving the ATT, schedule the licensure exam.
- Mail all forms, documents and fees to the following mailing address:
DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (DSPS)
WI BOARD OF NURSING
P.O. BOX 8935
MADISON, WI 53708-8935
For more information about the examination process, click here.
Registered Nursing (RN) & Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Licensure by Endorsement
Applicants Must Meet the Following Requirements:
- Complete application and attach the appropriate fee made payable to DSPS.
- Provide verification of your RN/LPN licensure from the state, territory, or province in which you were originally licensed by examination, and the state, territory, or province in which you hold a current, active license.
- To obtain verification from another state board, you must first view the NURSYS website to see if your verification can be processed through NURSYS. Please follow their instructions for online processing. You must complete the NURSYS online license verification process. The Licensure Quick Confirm Report will not be accepted by the Board as proof of verification.
- If the state in which you currently have or initially held a license as a RN/LPN is not one of the participating states which use the NURSYS program, complete the Verification of Licensure form. You must first contact each state board prior to forwarding this form to see if a fee is required for this service. This completed form must be returned directly from the other state board(s) to the WI Board of Nursing. Verifications received from the applicant will be rejected by the Board.
Applicants from a nurse licensure compact state must:
- Hold a current license from a state which has adopted the nurse licensure compact under Wis. Stat. §441.50 that is considered to have met educational and other qualifications comparable to those required in this state.
- Submit completed application.
- Declare Wisconsin as the primary state of residence.
- Submit applicable fees.
- An applicant who has a pending criminal charge or has been convicted of any crime or ordinance violation shall provide the board with all related information necessary for the board to determine whether the circumstances of the arrest or conviction or other offense substantially relates to the practice of nursing using the Convictions and Pending Charges Form.
- An applicant who has committed any act, which would be subject to discipline under Wis. Admin. Code ch. N 7, shall provide the board with all related information regarding the act necessary for the board to make a determination on the application for licensure.
- An applicant who has a nursing license encumbered by adverse action shall provide the board with all related information necessary to determine whether the board deems the action taken to warrant a denial in Wisconsin. Any license issued to an applicant with an encumbered nursing license elsewhere shall be a single state license to practice in the state of Wisconsin.
Applicants from another U.S. state, territory, or Canada must:
- Hold a current license from a U.S. state that has not adopted the nurse licensure compact under Wis. Stat. §441.50, a U.S. territory, or Canada is considered to have met educational and other qualifications comparable to those required in this state provided the requirements of the initial license including all of the following:
- Graduation from a school approved by the board in the jurisdiction of initial licensure, or education the board in the jurisdiction of initial licensure deemed to be comparable to a school that board approves.
- Passage of the NCLEX.
- Applicants shall submit a completed application and pay the applicable fee. The application shall include the following:
- Verification of licensure from the state, territory, or province in which the original license by examination was issued and the state, territory, or province in which the current, active license was issued.
- Documentation of employment history.
- Applicants who have a pending criminal charge or has been convicted of any crime or ordinance violation, shall provide the Board with all related information necessary for the Board to determine whether the circumstances of the arrest or conviction or other offense substantially related to the practice of nursing.
- Applicants who have a license encumbered by adverse action shall provide the Board with all related information necessary to determine whether the Board deems the action taken to warrant a denial in Wisconsin.
- Applicants who have been terminated from any employment related to nursing shall provide the Board with all related information necessary to determine current competency.
- Applicants who has committed any act, which would be subject to discipline under Wis. Admin. Code ch. N7, shall provide the Board with all related information regarding the act necessary for the Board to make a determination on the application for licensure.
- Mail all forms, documents and fees to the following mailing address:
DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (DSPS)
WI BOARD OF NURSING
P.O. BOX 8935
MADISON, WI 53708-8935
For more information about the endorsement process, click here.
For more information visit the official Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services website.