The Arizona State Board of Nursing's website is a primary source verification, as required by The Joint Commission, of licensure/certification status for all nursing licenses issued in the state of Arizona. The license lookup information for nurses is updated every business day, and uploaded to NURSYS, a national data base, on a daily basis. The information on our website is the same information provided through other means, i.e. telephone, facsimile, email or mail, and is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is our intent to provide accurate nurse licensure information and to allow users the ability to verify licenses.
The Nursys licensure and disciplinary database is the repository of the data provided directly from Arizona State Board of Nursing and is primary source equivalent.
Verification of Education
The Arizona Board of Nursing obtains primary source verification of education prior to issuance of licenses/certifications as follows:
- RN/LPN Exam Applicants – Primary source verification is sent directly to Arizona State Board of Nursing (AZBN) from their educational institution.
Exceptions: - Foreign graduates: Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools or International Education Resource Foundation or Educational Records Evaluation Services reviews transcripts and send AZBN a report.
- Canadian graduates whose education was in English – Educational verification/licensure status is sent to AZBN from the Canadian Regulatory Board where they were licensed.
- RN/LPN Endorsement Applicants – Educational /licensure status verification is sent to AzBN from the original state of licensure or information is accessed through NURSYS. (NURSYS is a data bank system housed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc, Chicago, IL, where most nursing boards submit data relating to licensure, education, discipline, and verification, on nurses licensed in their state.)
Exceptions: - Foreign graduates: Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools or International Education Resource Foundation or Educational Records Evaluation Services review transcripts and send report to AZBN.
- Canadian graduates whose education was in English: Educational/licensure status verification is sent to AZBN from the Canadian Regulatory Board where they were licensed.
- NP/CNS Applicants – Primary source verification is sent to AZBN from their educational institution. If the applicant has no graduate degree in nursing (prior to 1/1/01), verification is sent to AZBN from another jurisdiction. When national certification is required, it must be provided directly to AZBN from the credentialing agency and includes the issue and expiration dates.
- CRNA Applicants – Primary source verification is sent to AZBN from the institution where the anesthesia program was completed. Verification of certification and verification of graduation from a school that is accredited by the Council on Accreditations of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs is sent to AZBN from American Association of Nurse Anesthetists’ Council on Certification or Re-certification.
- CNA applicants - For Examination applicants, Primary source verification is sent to AZBN from the contracted Testing Vendor who receives documentation from the Board approved nursing assistant training program validating that the examination applicant has successfully completed the Board approved nursing assistant training program, and verification that the applicant has passed the manual and skills nursing assistant examination. For Endorsement applicants, Primary source verification is obtained from the website of another state or territory of the United States to validate that the CNA is listed as active on a nursing assistant register or a substantially equivalent register. The CNA verification can be obtained on the AZ State Board of Nursing website.