Use Pennsylvania’s PALS search for the license number and status. For formal verification, the credential matters: registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) use a different route from certified registered nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists. Those routes are explained below.
Pennsylvania nurse licenses are verified in the Pennsylvania Licensing System, PALS, the Department of State's database for all 29 professional and occupational boards. The public search returns a licensee's license number and status at any time and needs no account. It confirms whether the person holds an active license to work in Pennsylvania; disciplinary actions are published separately by the Department.
A Pennsylvania Licensing System result answers one question directly: whether the person you are dealing with holds an active professional or occupational license to work in Pennsylvania. The Department of State describes the record it returns as the licensee's license number and status, which are the two values it commits to publishing, and the same system covers all 29 professional and occupational boards, so a nurse, a barber and a real estate appraiser are all found the same way. Disciplinary actions are published separately by the Department rather than shown in the licence record. The Department publishes no fuller list of the columns the search screen displays, and this guide does not assert one.
For a formal record, the route depends on the credential. Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses verify a Pennsylvania license to another state through the Nursys verification service, which the Board participates in, at $30 per license type for each board of nursing the nurse is applying to. Certified registered nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists and licensed dietitian-nutritionists instead request a verification or certification of license through the Pennsylvania Licensing System, where a licensee can ask the Board to send a Verification of License with History electronically to another state licensing agency from the Professional License Details section of their dashboard.
Two Pennsylvania results confuse people. First, converting a single-state license to a multistate license does not change the expiration date; the conversion updates only the status, so a nurse who has just converted still has to renew by the original date to stay active. Second, a nurse who holds and practices under a multistate license cannot renew the old single-state license. A renewal notice is sent every two years before expiration, but not receiving it does not excuse a late renewal, and the Board requires an address update within 14 days of any change.
Pennsylvania fully implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact on July 7, 2025. Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses whose primary residence is Pennsylvania can apply through PALS for a multistate license that lets them practice in other compact states; existing Pennsylvania licenses were marked single state when the compact took effect and remain valid for practice inside Pennsylvania. A nurse holding a multistate license from another compact state may practice in Pennsylvania on that privilege, while a nurse with a single-state license from a non-compact state still needs Pennsylvania licensure.
The license was not renewed by its expiration date. Practice is not authorized. The holder reactivates it by applying online through the Pennsylvania Licensing System; the Board no longer accepts paper reactivation applications or checks. Separate reactivation paths apply depending on whether the license has been expired for less than five years or for five years or more.
The license is on inactive status and does not authorize practice. Reactivation is an online application through the Pennsylvania Licensing System, with different requirements depending on whether the license has been inactive for less than five years or for five years or more.
A multistate license issued by the Board to a nurse whose home state is Pennsylvania, authorizing practice in other compact states. It is not automatic; the nurse must apply and meet every requirement on the application.
The license authorizes practice in Pennsylvania only. When the Board implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact, every existing Pennsylvania RN and LPN license was marked single state without any change to its expiration date.