How to Become a Nurse in Pennsylvania (RN, LPN or CNA)

Three nursing roles, two agencies

Pennsylvania licenses registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) through the State Board of Nursing, part of the Department of State, and lists nurse aides (CNAs) on a Nurse Aide Registry run by the Department of Health, with training programs approved by the Department of Education. The three paths share a shape, school then exam then a state record, but the schools, exams, fees and agencies differ. Since 7 July 2025 Pennsylvania is also a full member of the Nurse Licensure Compact, so RNs and LPNs who live in the state can choose between a single-state and a multistate license. This guide walks through each path as the Pennsylvania agencies and the Board's regulations describe it, then covers endorsement for nurses moving in, the compact, pay and renewal.

How to become a registered nurse in Pennsylvania

1. Graduate from a Board-approved RN program

Pennsylvania approves three kinds of pre-licensure RN program: hospital diploma programs, associate degree programs at community colleges and bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) programs at four-year schools. The Board's regulations set organizational and curriculum rules for each, and the Board publishes its list of approved programs every year. All three lead to the same license. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for registered nurses, and many hospital systems prefer or require it, but an associate degree or diploma from an approved program makes you eligible to sit the exam. Graduates of programs approved by another state's board are also eligible, and the Board requires an official transcript from them.

2. Apply to the State Board of Nursing

Applications are filed online through the Department of State's licensing portal, PALS. You may submit the application and fee up to 90 days before you finish your program, which the Board recommends, but it cannot begin processing a Pennsylvania graduate's file until your school sends notice that you have completed the program. The fee is $95 for a graduate of a Pennsylvania program and $115 for a graduate of a program in another state. If Pennsylvania is your primary state of residence and you want a multistate license from the start, apply for that instead: $135 for Pennsylvania graduates, $230 for out-of-state graduates. An applicant who does not qualify for a multistate license is considered for a single-state license automatically, without a second application.

3. Fingerprints, and three hours on child abuse reporting

Every new applicant submits to a fingerprint-based FBI background check, pre-registered through the Board's fingerprinting vendor using the service code your application gives you, so the results reach the Board. Multistate applicants also submit a criminal history record check from the state where they live, which for Pennsylvania residents is a Pennsylvania State Police record check; a volunteer record check is not accepted. Every applicant must also complete three hours of Board-approved training in child abuse recognition and reporting from a provider approved by the Department of Human Services. The provider sends confirmation of completion directly to the Board, so tell the provider when you register that you are applying for a Pennsylvania license.

4. Register for the NCLEX-RN

Register with the exam vendor, Pearson VUE. The NCLEX registration fee is $200 in the United States; the National Council of State Boards of Nursing has announced that it rises to $350 on 1 February 2027. The Board sends your Authorization to Test to the vendor only once you are registered, so do both in the same week. The exam is national and can be taken at any test center.

5. Take the exam within a year, retake as often as you need

Board rules require you to take the licensing exam for the first time within one year of completing your program, unless an emergency, illness, military service or other good cause prevented it, or you already hold a nursing license elsewhere. If you fail, you file a re-examination application with a $75 fee and may retake the exam as many times as it takes to pass. A candidate who reapplies two or more years after the first attempt must meet whatever administrative and education requirements are in force at that time.

6. Working before your results: the temporary practice permit

A graduate registered nurse may practice only under supervision, meaning a licensed RN is physically present in the area or unit, and only while holding a temporary practice permit. The permit costs $70, is valid for up to one year from issue and expires immediately if you fail the licensing exam. At least 90 days before it expires you must have filed your licensure application, paid the fee and registered for the exam; the Board grants extensions only for illness or extreme hardship, at $85.

Open positions for new graduates and experienced nurses are listed by employer on our registered nurse jobs in Pennsylvania hub.

How to become an LPN in Pennsylvania

The practical nurse path runs on the same rails as the RN path, with a shorter school and a different exam. The Board's regulations spell out who may sit the exam:

1. Meet the entry requirements. An applicant must be at least 18, of good moral character, and have completed 12 years of education with a diploma from a public, parochial or private school, or its equivalent as evaluated by the Department of Education.
2. Finish a Board-approved practical nursing program of not less than 1,500 hours over not less than 12 months. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes these programs typically take about one year.
3. Apply through PALS up to 90 days before you finish. The fees mirror the RN schedule: $95 for Pennsylvania graduates and $115 for out-of-state graduates for a single-state license, $135 and $230 for a multistate license, with the same FBI fingerprint check and the same three hours of child abuse recognition and reporting training.
4. Register for the NCLEX-PN with Pearson VUE ($200, rising to $350 on 1 February 2027), and take it for the first time within one year of completing your program. Re-examination is $75.
5. Work as a graduate practical nurse while you wait, if you wish, on a $70 temporary practice permit: up to one year, under the supervision of an RN physically present on the unit, void the moment you fail the exam.

Many Pennsylvania LPNs later bridge to RN through an LPN-to-associate or LPN-to-BSN program; the Board then treats the graduate as a new RN applicant by examination. Current openings are on our LPN jobs in Pennsylvania hub.

How to become a CNA in Pennsylvania

Nurse aides are not licensed by the Board of Nursing. The Department of Health keeps the Nurse Aide Registry of everyone eligible to work as a nurse aide in the state's long-term care facilities, the Department of Education approves the training programs, and a testing contractor runs the exam. A nurse aide who is not enrolled and in good standing on the registry may not be employed in a nursing facility that receives Medicare or Medicaid payments.

1. Complete a nurse aide training program approved by the Department of Education. Programs run in public and private schools and in long-term care facilities. The Department of Education is clear that only graduates of a state-approved program may take the competency exam, and the Department of Health admits you to testing if you finished that program within the last 24 months.
2. Register for the exam with the help of your training program, director of nursing or employer, then schedule through the contractor's candidate account. You cannot be scheduled until your training is complete.
3. Pass both parts. The written exam has 70 multiple-choice questions, allows up to two hours and can be taken online or at a test center; candidates who have difficulty reading English may choose an oral exam of 60 multiple-choice questions plus 10 reading comprehension questions instead. The skills evaluation, offered only at test centers, asks you to perform five randomly selected nurse aide skills in 30 minutes in front of a nurse evaluator.
4. Mind the attempt limit. State and federal rules allow three attempts to pass both parts, and a missed appointment counts as one of them. If you have not passed both within two years of finishing your training, you must complete a new training program before testing again.
5. Get listed and stay listed. Passing both exams places you on the Nurse Aide Registry. The listing lapses if you go 24 consecutive months without a documented day of paid nursing-related work; a lapsed aide, from Pennsylvania or another state's registry, may re-test, with one attempt allowed.

Openings are on our CNA jobs in Pennsylvania hub.

Licensed in another state? Endorsement and the compact

Pennsylvania fully implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact on 7 July 2025. On that day every existing Pennsylvania RN and LPN license was marked single-state, with its expiration date unchanged, and nurses whose primary state of residence is Pennsylvania became able to apply for a multistate license: $105 to convert an existing Pennsylvania license, $180 for initial multistate licensure by endorsement, $250 if an exam is also required. Converting back from multistate to single-state is free. The compact covers RNs and LPNs only. See our compact nursing states list for every member.

What that means for a nurse coming from elsewhere depends on where you live and what you hold:

• You hold a multistate license and still live in another compact state. You may practice in Pennsylvania on that license, in person or by telehealth, and you are not eligible for a Pennsylvania single-state license by endorsement.
• You hold a multistate license and are moving to Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania becomes your home state, so you apply for a Pennsylvania multistate license with proof of your new primary residence; your old home-state multistate license is deactivated under the compact's rules.
• You hold a single-state license from a non-compact state, or you want only a Pennsylvania single-state license. Apply for licensure by endorsement: $120, or $145 if the Board requires you to take the NCLEX because you were never examined with it or an equivalent. You qualify if you graduated from an approved program in the United States or Canada and were licensed in another jurisdiction after passing the NCLEX or an exam the Board considers equivalent. Your school sends an official transcript, every state where you have held a license sends verification of licensure (through the national verification service where your state participates), you complete the FBI fingerprint check and the three hours of child abuse training, and a license that has not been current for five years or more triggers the Board's continued-competency requirement first.
• Working while the file is processed. A nurse currently licensed in another state, territory or Canadian province can apply for a temporary practice permit ($70), valid until the Board decides the application or for one year, whichever comes first.

What nurses earn, and the outlook

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook puts the national median annual wage for May 2025 at $97,550 for registered nurses, $64,400 for licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses and $41,870 for nursing assistants and orderlies. For posted pay by city and employer in Pennsylvania, from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to Allentown and Harrisburg, see nurse jobs and pay in Pennsylvania; for how states compare, see the highest-paying states for nurses.

Nationally, the Bureau projects employment of registered nurses to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations, with about 180,800 openings a year once retirements and career changes are counted. Licensed practical and vocational nurses are projected to grow 3 percent with about 51,800 openings a year, and nursing assistants and orderlies 3 percent with about 203,300 openings a year. Pennsylvania's large hospital systems and its long-term care sector are among the most active employers on our board; see where hospitals are hiring nurses now.

Keeping your Pennsylvania license or listing

• RNs renew every two years through PALS, on 30 April or 31 October of an even or odd year as the Board assigns, for $122 (the same fee for a multistate license). Each renewal requires 30 hours of Board-approved continuing education, at least 2 of them in child abuse recognition and reporting. From 1 May 2026 the Board also requires, once within five years, 2 of those 30 hours in the organ and tissue donation and recovery process. The 30-hour requirement is waived for your first renewal after initial licensure, but the child abuse hours are not. No background check is needed to renew. Details by state are in our nurse CE requirements by state guide.
• LPNs renew for $76; practical nurse licenses expire on 30 June of even-numbered years. The renewal rule's only continuing education requirement is 2 hours of approved training in child abuse recognition and reporting.
• CNAs keep their registry listing active by working at least one documented day of paid nursing-related services every 24 months.

Sources

• Pennsylvania Department of State, State Board of Nursing, Nursing Licensure Guide, current requirements, read 5 October 2026.
• Pennsylvania Department of State, State Board of Nursing, Nurse Licensure Compact, read 5 October 2026.
• Pennsylvania Code, Title 49, Chapter 21, State Board of Nursing: § 21.5 Fees, § 21.7 Temporary practice permits, § 21.21 and § 21.23 on the examination application, § 21.25 Re-examination, § 21.28 Licensure by endorsement, § 21.29 Expiration and renewal, § 21.131 Continuing education, § 21.147 Fees (practical nurses), § 21.149, § 21.151, § 21.155, § 21.156 and § 21.158 on practical nurse permits, examination, endorsement, renewal and qualifications, and § 21.1203, § 21.1204 and § 21.1205 on multistate licenses; regulations current through 8 August 2026, read 5 October 2026.
• Pennsylvania Department of Health, Nurse Aide and Nurse Aide Testing, read 5 October 2026.
• Pennsylvania Department of Education, Nurse Aide Training Program, read 5 October 2026.
• National Council of State Boards of Nursing, NCLEX Fees and Payment and Nurse Licensure Compact, read 5 October 2026.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 pay and 2025-35 projections: Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses and Nursing Assistants and Orderlies, read 5 October 2026.