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 | Get your Graduate Degree in Tennessee |
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The Tennessee Board of Nursing (1-800-778-4123), under the Department of Health, regulates and certifies qualified registered nurses as advanced practice nurses (APN) in the following four roles:
- Nurse practitioner
- Nurse anesthetist
- Nurse Midwife
- Clinical Nurse Specialist
To work toward APN certification in Tennessee, you must first hold an active, unencumbered RN license. If you do not hold an active RN license in Tennessee (or Compact state*), you can obtain one by completing one of the following steps:
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- If you are licensed in another jurisdiction, you may submit the Application for Licensure as a Registered Professional Nurse by Endorsement.
- If you are a graduate of an approved RN school of nursing, you may apply for licensure by examination. These applications are made available to the Tennessee Schools of Nursing and are not available online. You can request a packet by calling 1-800-778-4123.
- If you are a professional nurse educated in a foreign country, your nursing education must be substantially the same as required by the Board for graduates of nursing in Tennessee. You must also hold a Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools certificate. The Board of Nursing will send a foreign nursing examination application packet after you complete and submit this questionnaire.
*Nurse Licensure Compact – Tennessee is part of the Nurse Licensure Compact. The Compact offers practice privileges for registered nurses in all compact states (which includes: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Tennessee, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin). If you reside in Tennessee and you hold a Tennessee multistate nursing license, you will have the “multistate privilege to practice” in any other Compact state.
Step 1. Get Your Graduate Degree
To work toward your APN certificate in Tennessee, you must graduate with a master’s degree or higher in a nursing specialty.
To work toward your APRN license in Tennessee, you must complete an advanced practice nursing education program (post baccalaureate) that is accredited by a national accrediting body. You can review institutional, programmatic, and specialized accrediting agencies listed in the United States Department of Education (USDE) database of recognized accrediting bodies to confirm that your master’s, post-baccalaureate certificate, or doctorate program meets accreditation standards.
Since national certification through a Board-recognized certifying body is a condition for APRN licensure, you may defer to your certifying body of choice to verify that your advanced practice nursing program of choice meets accreditation standards (see Step 2 for information on Board-recognized certifying bodies).
Course Requirements
In accordance with the national APRN Consensus Model, advanced practice nursing programs must include the following core courses:
- Advanced pathophysiology/physiology (that includes general principles applicable across the human lifespan)
- Advanced health assessment (that includes assessment of all systems of the body, advanced assessment methods, techniques, and concepts)
- Advanced pharmacology (that includes pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacotherapeutics of broad categories of agents)
If you intend to become licensed as a CNM or CRNA, your population or specialty will be incorporated in your coursework. If you are pursuing NP or CNS licensure, you can expect coursework to cover the six main population foci:
- Family/individual health across the lifespan
- Adult health and gerontology
- Neonatology
- Pediatrics
- Women’s health and gender-related health
- Psychiatric mental health
A master’s degree is not required if:
- You received your national certification in your advanced practice role and your Tennessee RN license before July 1, 2005
OR
- You received your national certification in your advanced practice role; your RN license with a multistate licensure privilege to practice in Tennessee before July 1, 2005 and you currently hold additional subspecialty certification.
You must also successfully complete the pharmacology requirements set forth by the Board, which includes three quarter hours or its equivalent.
Step 2. Earn Your National Certification
After the successful completion of an education program in your APN specialty, you must become certified through a national credentialing body in your advanced practice nursing specialty:
- Nurse practitioner
- Nurse anesthetist
- Nurse Midwife
- Clinical Nurse Specialist
The following certifying bodies for APNs are recognized by the Tennessee Board of Nursing:
- National Board of Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists
- Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists
- American Nurses Credentialing Center
- Adult Nurse Practitioner
- Family Nurse Practitioner
- Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
- Gerontological Nurse Practitioner
- Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
- Clinical Specialist in Medical-Surgical Nursing
- Clinical Specialist in Gerontological Nursing
- Clinical Specialist in Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
- Clinical Specialist in Child and Adolescent Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
- Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (Adult and Family)
- Pediatric Nursing Certification Board
- Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
- American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
- Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP
- Adult Nurse Practitioner
- National Certification Corporation
- Ob/Gyn Nurse Practitioner (Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner)
- Neonatal Nurse Practitioner
- American Association of Critical Care Nurses
- Clinical Nurse Specialist (in acute and critical care or in acute care)
- American Midwifery Certification Board
- Certified Nurse Midwife
Step 3. Apply for your License
To apply for APN certification in Tennessee, you must complete the Application for Advanced Practice Nurse Certificate.
In addition to a completed application, you must:
- Attach one recent passport-type (2”x 2”) color photograph to the application, which must include your legal signature on the front of the photograph (your signature should not conceal your face).
- Sign the affidavit found at the bottom of page 3 in the presence of a Notary Public.
- Contact the college or university where you obtained your advanced nursing degree and request that they forward an official transcript directly to the Board of Nursing.
- Contact the national certifying body and request that they forward verification of your national certification directly to the Board of Nursing.
- Complete the Mandatory Practitioner Profile Questionnaire found at the end of the application.
- Attach a check or money order in the amount of $210 ($200 certificate fee and $10 state regulatory fee) made payable to the “Tennessee Board of Nursing.”
- Attach a copy of your RN license.
Mail the completed application and the above documents to the: Tennessee Board of Nursing, 227 French Landing, Suite 300, Heritage Place, Metro Center, Nashville, TN 37243.
Prescriptive Privileges
All APNs in Tennessee are granted a certificate of fitness to prescribe and/or issue legend drugs. Prescriptive authority is part of the APN application, and there is no separate certificate number for prescribing privileges.
A nurse may be granted an APN certificate without prescriptive authority only in certain situations where the nurse does not meet the pharmacology qualification.
If you are a nurse anesthetist, you need only apply for APN practice, unless you plan to write and sign prescriptions, then you must hold an APN certificate with a certificate of fitness.
If you plan to prescribe or order controlled substances as an APN in Tennessee, you must first obtain a DEA number by contacting the Drug Enforcement Agency at 1-800-882-9539.
Step 4. Renewing Your License
Your APN certificate renewal is separate from your RN license renewal. You may apply for your APN renewal up to 120 days prior to the expiration date of your certificate. The fee for biennial APN renewal is $100. You must show evidence of your national certification upon renewal.
You can renew both your RN license and your APN license on the Tennessee Department of Health’s Online License Renewal & Information Update page. You may also make changes to your address here, as well.
Lapsed License
In order to reinstate your lapsed APN certificate in Tennessee, you must contact the Board of Nursing at 1-800-778-4123 for a reinstatement application and pay the APN reinstatement fee of $100 (in addition to the renewal fee of $100).
Retirement Status
If you want to retire from your APN role in Tennessee, you must complete the Affidavit of Retirement from Practice in Tennessee and have the form notarized in the presence of a Notary Public. There is no fee for this service.
Advanced Practice Nurse Associations in Tennessee
There are a number of professional organizations that support APNs in Tennessee:
- Tennessee Nurses Association
- Tennessee State Council – Emergency Nurses Association
- Tennessee Association of School Nurses
- Tennessee Chapter of American Psychiatric Nurses Association
- Tennessee Association of Nurse Anesthetists
- Tennessee Association of Student Nurses
- Tennessee Association of Occupational Health Nurses
- Middle Tennessee Advanced Practice Nurses
- West Tennessee Nurse Practitioners Alliance
- Northeast Tennessee Nurse Practitioners Association
- Tennessee Emergency Nurses Association – Smoky Mountain Chapter
Tennessee Nurse Practitioner Salary
Nurse practitioners can build a comfortable living in Tennessee. On average, they earn $99,370 per year, with the top 10 percent earning more than $131,590 annually.
Registered Nurse Salary
RNs in Tennessee make around 10 percent more than the state’s median household, bringing in an average of$64,120 per year. The highest-earning RNs in TN reporting making $86,170 or more per year. Either income will help you build a comfortable life.
Nursing Instructors and Teachers Salary
Nursing instructors in Tennessee gross $73,750 per year, on average. There are approximately 1,240 nursing instructors working in the state as of May 2020.
Nurse Administrator Salary
(Includes Nurse Managers, Directors, and Chief Nursing Officers)
In Tennessee, being a nurse administrator pays well: an average of$104,380 per year. The top earners in this profession report making $165,360 annually.
Nurse Anesthetists Salary
As a nurse anesthetist, you’ll make an extremely comfortable living in Tennessee. The average salary for this role is $171,020 annually. That rate only goes up with more experience. The top 25 percent report earning better than $200,630 per year.
Tennessee Nurse Midwife Salary
Envision yourself providing natal care? In TN, midwives bring in an average of$93,690 per year. The top 10 percent break the six-figure mark, earning at least $112,170 annually.
2020 US Bureau of Labor Statistics job market trends and salary figures for 1) Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Midwives; 2) Medical and Health Services Managers (Nurse Administrators); 3) Registered Nurses; and 4) Postsecondary Nursing Instructors and Teachers reflect state data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. 2019 US Census Bureau figures for state median household income provided for comparison. Data Accessed December 2021.