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The Vermont State Board of Nursing (phone: 802-828-2396, [email protected]), under the Vermont Secretary of State, administers the nursing laws for the State of Vermont, which includes professional standards, statutes, administrative rules, and licensure for advanced practice registered nurses (APRN).
Holding an active RN license is a prerequisite to APRN licensure in Vermont. To become an APRN, you must hold a current, unencumbered license as a professional nurse in Virginia.
- If you are a recent graduate, you should apply for the Registered Nurse Licensure by Examination.
If your initial license to practice was in a foreign country, and you do not hold a license in one of the jurisdictions of the United States, you cannot apply for licensure by examination until your information is translated into English and is filed with the Board and your completed secondary education has been approved by a state department of education.
- If you hold an RN license outside of the state of Vermont, you can apply for Registered Nurse Application by Endorsement.
You may also apply for application by endorsement if you are registered in another country that has requirements for registration or licensing equal to or exceeding the requirements in Vermont.
- If you have a lapsed or inactive license and you have not practiced nursing for at least 120 days in the previous five years or 50 days in the previous two years, you may apply for licensure by endorsement using the Registered Nurse Renewal Application. In order to be granted a temporary permit (good for no more than one year), you must also complete the Registered Nurse Re-Entry Application for Temporary Permit form, in addition to your renewal application. Within that time period you must complete a re-entry program and complete an application for licensure to be granted a current license to practice.
With an active RN license, you may pursue advanced practice licensure in Vermont as detailed in the following steps.
Step 1. Get your Graduate Education
To be considered for an APRN license in Vermont, you must complete an educational program for APRNs through an accredited college or university that offers a graduate-level education that prepares nurses for advanced practice.
Qualified Graduate Programs
The Board recognizes and licenses APRNs in the following clinical specialties:
- Nurse practitioners (NP)
- Certified nurse-midwives (CNM)
- Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA)
- Clinical nurse specialists in psychiatric/mental health nursing (CNS)
The graduate program must meet a set of standards created by the national accrediting body specific to each clinical specialty. See Institutional and Specialized and Programmatic certifying agencies listed in the United States Department of Education (USDE) database.
The national certifying board recognized by the Vermont Board of Nursing for your particular area of advanced practice nursing must also recognize and approve of your graduate program:
- The American Midwifery Certification Board
- American Nurses Credentialing Center
- National Board of Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists
- Pediatric Nursing Certification Board
- National Certification Corporation for the Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing Specialties
- American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
Course Requirements
The Vermont State Board of Nursing requires all APRN graduate programs to include biological, behavioral, social sciences and medicine in pharmacotherapeutics relevant to practice as an APRN and prescriptive authority in the role and population focus.
A graduate education for APRNs must include graduate-level courses in:
- Advanced pharmacotherapeutics
- Advanced patient assessment
- Advanced pathophysiology
Prescriptive Authority
As a licensed APRN in Vermont, prescriptive authority is granted as standard protocol. You may prescribe medications consistent with your scope of practice and in compliance with all applicable statutes and regulations. The only exception to this is Psychiatric/Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialists, who, at the Board’s discretion, may receive an APRN license without prescriptive authority.
Step 2. Earn your National Certification
After you complete your graduate education, you are then eligible to take an exam to become nationally certified in your nursing specialty:
- Nurse practitioners (NP)
- Certified nurse-midwives (CNM)
- Certified nurse anesthetists (CNA)
- Clinical nurse specialists in psychiatric/mental health nursing (CNS)
The following national certifying bodies for APRNs are recognized by the Vermont State Board of Nursing:
- AMCB (American Midwifery Certification Board):
- Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM)
- NBCRNA (National Board of Certification & Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists):
- Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
- ANCC (American Nurses Credentialing Center):
- Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP)
- Adult Nurse Practitioner (ANP)
- Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
- Gerontological Nurse Practitioner (GNP)
- Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP)
- Adult Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)
- Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)
- Adult Health Clinical Nurse Specialist (ACNS)
- Adult Psychiatric & Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist (PMHCNS)
- Child/Adolescent Psychiatric & Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist (PMHCNS)
- Gerontological Clinical Nurse Specialist (GCNS)
- Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist (PCNS)
- AANP (American Academy of Nurse Practitioners):
- Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP
- Adult Nurse Practitioner
- AACN (Certification Corporation (American Association of Critical Care Nurses):
- Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNPC)
- Adult, Neonatal and Pediatric Acute Care Clinical Nurse Specialist (CCNS)
- NCC (National Certification Corporation):
- Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP)
- Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner (WHNP)
- PNCB (Pediatric Nurse Certification Board):
- Pediatric Nurse Practitioner – Acute Care (ACPNP)
- Pediatric Nurse Practitioner – Primary Care (PCPNP)
Population Focus Areas
In addition to receiving certification through a national certifying body in your chosen APRN specialty role, you must choose at least one population focus. The Board licenses APRNs in the following population focus areas:
- Family/individual across the life span
- Adult
- Neonatal
- Pediatrics
- Women’s health/gender related
- Psychiatric/mental health
Step 3. Apply for an APRN License
Transition to Practice: Collaborative Provider Agreement
If you have fewer than 24 months and 2,400 hours of active advanced nursing practice in a specialty and population focus, you must establish a formal agreement with a collaborating provider for no fewer than 12 months or 1,600 hours before you can be licensed and begin practicing as an APRN.
A collaborating provider is recognized as an APRN, a licensed physician or an osteopathic physician who has practiced in the same specialty for at least four years.
All new graduates, all APRNS applying by endorsement, and all APRNs adding new credentials are required to complete the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Attestation Form Completion of Transition to Practice Requirement.
Creating Practice Guidelines/Collaborative Agreement form
In order to begin a collaborative agreement, you must create a set of practice guidelines, through a collaborative agreement, that includes the following information:
- Your name
- Your role (CNM, CNA, CNS, or NP) and your population focus (adult, family, pediatric, etc.)
- Your specialty certification
- The collaborating professional’s (APRN, MD, or DO) information, including name, specialty, Vermont license number, practice name, practice address, contact phone number, clinical practice name, practice address, practice telephone number, client population served, and type of care provided
- A brief description of the standards of clinical practice, including the types of standards used to guide and evaluate the practice. A national certifying body, a professional organization, the employing organization, or the Vermont Department of Health may dictate standards.
- References used for clinical practice guidelines, which may include books and online clinical guidelines
- Criteria for professional consultation and referral, including an emergency referral
- A quality assurance plan, which should include a plan specific to the APRN role, population focus and specialty practice area
The collaborative agreement must be signed and dated by you and the collaborating APRN, DO, or MD. You can view a Collaborative Agreement template to help guide you.
Once you have satisfied the requirements for a collaborative agreement set forth by the Board, you can inform the Board by completing the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Attestation Form Completion of Transition to Practice Requirement found at the end of the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Endorsement Application. Once your application has been approved by the Board, you will no longer need to hold a collaborative agreement.
You must also hold a formal agreement with a collaborative provider for no fewer than 12 months or 1,600 hours of practice if you are obtaining subsequent certification in an additional role or population focus.
Initial APRN Application
To become licensed as an APRN you must (in addition to establishing a collaborative agreement and completing your practice guidelines):
- Graduate from a Board-approved graduate nursing program within the last two years of applying for licensure
OR
- Complete a Board-approved APRN refresher course within the last two years (a combined clinical and classroom program approved by the Board)
To apply for Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Endorsement, you must complete the application and provide the Board with the following:
- Evidence of a current and unencumbered Vermont RN license
- Official transcript(s) from your graduate nursing program
- Evidence of a certification from a national certifying body approved recognized by the Board (or, for new graduates, an application to take a Board-approved national certification exam)
- Documentation of your APRN practice history
- A 2”x2” passport-sized photo of your head and shoulders taken within the last six months
- A check or money order for $75.00 made payable to the “Office of the Secretary of State.”
Note: If you practice as an APRN without compensation (pro bono) at a free or reduced-fee Vermont health clinic and meet all APRN licensure requirements, you may be eligible to receive your APRN license without paying license fees. You must contact the Board at 802-828-2396 to receive a copy of an APRN Pro Bono Endorsement Application.
Send the completed application, fee, and all required documents to: Attn: Board of Nursing, Office of Professional Regulation, National Life Building, North, Floor 2, Montpelier, VT 05620-3402.
Step 4. Renew your APRN License
APRN licensed are renewed on April 1 of every odd year (the current renewal period is from 4/1/11 to 3/31/13).
To renew your APRN license you must:
- Provide documentation of the completion of your APRN practice requirement (show evidence that you have practiced as an APRN for at least 960 hours in the last five years or at least 400 hours in the last two years or have completed a Board-approved APRN refresher course within the last two years if you are not employed)
- Provide evidence of your current certification by a national certifying body
- Provide evidence of current practice guidelines (if employed)
- Provide current collaborating provider agreement (if applicable)
To apply for your biennial APRN license renewal, you must complete the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Renewal Application and send it to the Board, along with a $145 check or money order made payable to the “Office of the Secretary of State.”
Send the completed application, fee, and all required documents to: Attn: Board of Nursing, Office of Professional Regulation, National Life Building, North, Floor 2, Montpelier, VT 05620-3402.
If you are not currently employed, you may complete the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Renewal of Licensure application and attach your most recent practice guidelines to your application. There is no fee associated with this application.
If you are an APRN who is not practicing and does not plan to practice nursing, you may place your APRN license on inactive status by filling out the RN and APRN Request for Inactive Status application. There is no fee associated with this application.
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Associations in Vermont
There are a number of professional organizations that support APRNs in Vermont:
- Vermont State Nurses Association Inc.
- Vermont Nurses in Partnership
- The Vermont Nurse Practitioners Association
- Vermont Organization of Nurse Leaders
- Vermont Emergency Nurses Association
- Vermont Nurse-Midwives
- Vermont Midwives Alliance
- Vermont Association of Nurse Anesthetists
Vermont Nurse Practitioner Salary
In Vermont, NPs make an average of$108,280 per year. Those who have worked their way to the top 10 percent report earning $141,950 or more a year. That’s a good salary range no matter where you are in the state.
Registered Nurse Salary
RNs live comfortably in the Green Mountain State, earning an average of$72,140 per year. Stick it out for the long haul, and you’ll likely break six figures. The top 10 percent report earnings of $98,380 or better in this state.
Nurse Administrator Salary
(Includes Nurse Managers, Directors, and Chief Nursing Officers)
Settling into management isn’t a bad idea in Vermont. In this state, nurse administrators make an average of $110,640 per year. That salary only grows with time and experience – the top-earning admins report grossing at least $172,390 per year.
Nurse Anesthetists Salary
Nurse anesthetists make a fantastic living in Vermont: an average of$189,730 per year. While the top 25 percent bring in a minimum $201,050, the highest earners make beyond what the Bureau of Labor Statistics includes in its income reports.
Vermont Nurse Midwife Salary
In Vermont, midwives make an average salary of $97,240 per year. Top earners in this profession report earnings of $132,410 or more annually.
Vermont Nursing Instructor Salary
Want to mentor the next generation of nurses? Vermont’s nursing instructors make an average of$71,370 per year.
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.