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A full-service professional organization representing more than two million nurses in the United States through its 53 constituent state nursing associations. The American Nurses Association seeks to advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace and lobbying the U.S. Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the American public Board of nursing

A U.S. state government agency that is responsible for the regulation of nursing practice. The authority to grant licenses to registered nurses and practical nurses is at the state, and not the federal, level in the United States. State boards of nursing are members of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).

National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN)

The organization through which U.S. state boards of nursing act together on matters of common interest. This includes matters of public health, safety and welfare, including the development of licensure examinations for nursing.

The NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) is an exam used by all U.S. state and territorial boards of nursing who are NCSBN members to test the entry-level nursing competence of candidates for licensure as registered nurses (NCLEX-RN) and as practical or vocational nurses (NCLEX-PN). Procedures and regulations regarding licensing are decided independently by each NCSBN member board of nursing. The license obtained is not a national license, but authorizes practice only in the state where the examination was taken, or in the multi-state compact of which the state is a member.