Tennessee Board of Nursing

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Board of Nursing Tennessee is part of the Tennessee Govt. Department of Health. The nursing board was established in 1911 by an act of the State Legislature. The board’s mission is to safeguard and protect the health, safety and welfare of Tennessee citizens, which makes it necessary that all practicing nursing individuals within this state must be qualified.


The Board has the responsibility to conduct the investigation on all nursing practice and law and rules violations by the licensees and take effective discipline actions on these that are found guilty.

The board comprises of eleven members that represent various nursing professions and consumers. The Board members are appointed by the Governor for four year terms until their successors are appointed. The representation of the Board members includes 5 RN members, 3 LPNs, 2 APRNs and one member from the consumer. The consumer member must not be associated commercially or professionally with the health care industry. Members for each appointment are selected from the lists of nominees provided by their respective organizations.

The basic responsibilities of the Board are concentrated on three functional fields including, licensure, education and practice:


Licensure: The Board grants Licenses to LPNs, RNs and Certification to APRN.

Education: The Board establishes minimum curriculum for all nurses educational programs and only the graduates from Board approved nursing schools are allowed and eligible to sit for the NCLEX Exam for Licensing or Certification.

Practice: The Board follows the mandates of the law to measure the appropriate standard of practice, conduct the investigation on all nursing practice and, law and rules violations by the licensees and take effective discipline actions or imposes civil penalties on those found guilty.

The board has also partnered with the Tennessee Nurses Foundation to offer professional assistance to nurses suffering from physical, mental, emotional and/or chemical dependency issues. These measures of the monitoring and referral program are great assistance for rehabilitation of nurses.

Contact the Board of Nursing

Tennessee Board of Nursing
227 French Landing, Suite 300
Nashville, TN  37243