§34-21-21. License to practice professional nursing; use of title "registered nurse."

(a) An applicant for a license to practice professional nursing as a registered nurse shall submit to the board written evidence of qualification, verified by oath, that such applicant is of good moral character, holds a diploma from an accredited high school or, in the opinion of the board, the equivalent thereof, has successfully completed an educational program in a school of nursing approved by the board, and is a citizen of the United States or, if not a citizen of the United States, a person who is legally present in the United States with appropriate documentation from the federal government.

(b) A license to practice professional nursing as a registered nurse may be obtained in the following manners:

(1) BY EXAMINATION. The applicant shall be required to pass an examination on such subjects as the board may determine; and, upon successfully passing such examination, the board shall issue such applicant a license.

(2) BY ENDORSEMENT. The board may issue a license to practice professional nursing as a registered nurse to an applicant who has been duly licensed as a registered nurse under the laws of another state, territory, or foreign country, if, in the opinion of the board, such applicant meets the qualifications required of registered nurses in this state at the time of his or her graduation. There shall be no license to practice professional nursing granted by the previously known waiver method.

(3) BY TEMPORARY PERMIT. The board may issue temporary permits to practice professional nursing to graduates of approved schools of nursing pending completion of licensing procedures; to qualified applicants pending licensure procedures under subdivision (2); and to those nurses licensed by other states who will practice in this state for a period of one year or less, subject to the discretion of the board.

(c) Any person who holds a license to practice professional nursing as a registered nurse in this state shall have the right to use the title "registered nurse" and the abbreviation "R.N." No other person shall assume or use such title or abbreviation or other words, letters, signs, or devices to indicate that the person using same is licensed to practice professional nursing as a registered nurse.

(d) Any person holding a license or certificate of original registration to practice nursing as a registered nurse, issued by the Alabama Board of Nurses' Examiners and Registration and which was valid on December 31, 1965, shall be eligible for licensing to practice professional nursing as a registered nurse under the provisions of this chapter.

(Acts 1965, No. 867, p. 1615, §15; Acts 1975, No. 427, p. 1024, §1; Act 2009-15, p. 29, §3.)