In Colorado, the nursing profession is regulated by the State Board of Nursing, a division of the Department of Regulatory Agencies. Colorado is fairly typical in terms of its Registered Nurse licensing requirements – like most states, you must take and pass the NCLEX after completing an approved program of study, unless you already hold a license from another state. However, due to a recently passed law, Colorado does have a somewhat unusual requirement for maintaining a nursing license, which we’ll discuss further below.

Obtaining a License

The steps, briefly:

• Successfully complete a program of study at a Board-approved nursing school. Colorado requires Registered Nurses to have either an Associate’s or Bachelor’s Degree (or higher) in nursing. A good guide to in-state programs can be found here. As the article notes, graduate programs are few and far between, so for an advanced education, you might want to look to other states.
• Upon program completion, submit an application to the Board. You can find that application here – note that you must actually attach transcripts to the application itself, rather than allowing your school to forward them. The fee for this application is 88 dollars.
• Register for the NCLEX exam. You should do this at around the same time you submit your Board application.
• Take and pass the NCLEX. This is the “big one” so to speak – the test required in all 50 states to become a Registered Nurse (there is also a version for licensed practical nurses).
• Once you pass, you're in! Because you already submitted your application and academic records, passage of the exam means an automatic license.

If you already hold a license in another state, and wish to practice in Colorado, there are two options. Colorado is a Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) state, along with 23 others. In essence, this makes it far easier to practice in CO if you have a license in another NLC state – the details can be found here, but the main point is that you need not apply for a license at all! If you hold a license in a non-NLC state, you may still become a Colorado nurse by “endorsement,” since you have already passed the NCLEX, but this requires its own application – you can find it on this page.

Maintaining a License

Colorado nursing licenses expire automatically on September 30 of every odd-numbered year, regardless of when you received your license. Prior to this you must complete the online application. The renewal fee is 117 dollars. Although you’ll almost certainly have already done this during the application process, you must have an online account with the Division of Regulatory Agencies. You can begin the online process here.

As a result of a 2013 law, all nurses in Colorado are required to maintain what’s called a Healthcare Profession Profile as a condition of keeping their license in good standing. Here’s how it works. You create a profile here. On the actual profile, you will list quite a bit of information, including your original license date, address, employer, and whether you have ever been the subject of any disciplinary actions. Any member of the public is free to look up this profile at any time.

Discipline in the profession is also handled by the Board of Nursing. In essence, a complaint made by a member of the public triggers a preliminary inquiry by the Board, possibly assisted by the state’s Office of Investigations. The Board may choose to dismiss the complaint based on a lack of jurisdiction or a finding that no violation occurred. Alternately, it may investigate further – if a violation is found, the Board may take any number of disciplinary actions, from issuing a public reprimand to revoking your license. And remember, any violations must be listed on your Healthcare Profession Profile!