Steps to Becoming an APN in Illinois

illinois nursing

1Get your Graduate Degree in Illinois
2Earn your National Certification in Illinois
3Apply for your APN License in Illinois
4Renewing your License in Illinois

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (1-888-4REGUL8) in collaboration with the Illinois Center for Nursing (1-888-NURSE07) hold authority over the issuance of licenses to qualified advanced practice nurses (APNs) practicing in the state.

Licenses are issued for four categories of advanced practice nurses in Illinois:

  • Certified nurse midwife (CNM)
  • Certified nurse practitioner (CNP)
  • Certified clinical nurse specialist (CNS)
  • Certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA)
Illinois Job Statistics

  • As of May 2020, nurse practitioners (NPs) in Illinois earn $112,060 per year on average.
  • NPs in Illinois earn about 70% more than the state’s median household income.
  • Registered nurses (RNs) working in Illinois make an average of $74,560 annually.
  • 2020 NCLEX-RN first-time pass rates for nursing school graduates in Illinois: 86.7%
  • Approximately 127,450 RNs and 6,890 NPs are licensed in Illinois.

You must hold a current, unencumbered Illinois RN license to be eligible for APN licensure.

With an active Illinois RN license, follow these steps to apply for APN licensure.


 

Step 1. Get Your Graduate Degree

To be eligible for APN licensure, you must complete a graduate-level or higher nursing program in one of the advanced practice nursing clinical specialty categories.

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The graduate program you select must be accredited by an institutional, specialized, or programmatic accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE).

In-state graduate programs that have been pre-approved by the Division of Professional Regulation are listed here.

Division of Professional Regulation-approved specialty area nursing administrator, nurse leader, and CNM programs accredited by the Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) are listed here.

Course Requirements

According to the Illinois Nurse Practice Act’s APN scope of practice, APN education should include the following courses:

  • Advanced nursing patient assessment and diagnosis
  • Ordering, performing and interpreting diagnostic and therapeutic tests
  • Ordering and using nursing medical, therapeutic, and corrective measures in treatment
  • End-of-life and palliative care
  • Advanced counseling
  • Patient education
  • Health education
  • Patient advocacy
  • Advanced pharmacology

Prescriptive Authority

If you wish to prescribe controlled substances, under the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, you must have completed 45 graduate contact hours in pharmacology as part of your graduate program.

To maintain prescriptive authority specific to controlled substances, you’ll be required to complete an additional 5 graduate-level contact hours in pharmacology every year thereafter.

Specialization

Depending upon your eventual career goal as an APN, your graduate studies may involve a specialized program, concentrations, tracks and/or coursework. Concentrations that may be available in your graduate nursing program include Clinical Nurse Leader, Nurse Administrator, Nursing Education, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Practitioner, and Nurse Midwife, as well as options for specific patient population foci.

Some aspiring APNs choose to go for their DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) degree or receive a PhD in Nursing.

Temporary Permit

If you have completed your graduate nursing studies but have not yet taken the national certification examination, you may be eligible to receive a temporary permit. This allows you to work as an APN for as many as six months, provided you have registered to take the national certification exam. More information on this option is available on the APN Licensure Application.


Step 2. Earn Your National Certification

The Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation requires that you earn your national certification prior to being issued APN licensure. Each general area of specialty category allows for certification from one or more national certification organization. The Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation also recognizes specialty area and patient population focus certification. You must meet your chosen agency’s education, experience, and examination requirements in order to become nationally certified.

Maintaining national certification is a condition of maintaining Illinois APN licensure, and requires meeting qualifications for continuing education set forth by your national certification agency.

Advanced Practice Nursing Designation Options

The Department of Financial & Professional Regulation licenses APNs in these general categories:

  • Certified nurse practitioner (NP)
  • Certified nurse-midwife (CNM)
  • Certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA)
  • Certified clinical nurse specialist (CNS)

Certification Programs

These national certification agencies are recognized in Illinois for APN licensure purposes:

Contact the national certification agency representing the specialty in which you wish to become certified for further information.


Step 3. Apply for Your APN License

Regardless of your APN category, you will use the Advanced Practice Nurse Licensure Application. Your application must include the following:

  • Indication of the APN category for which you are applying
  • Application fees ($125 for the APN application, plus additional fees for each category) payable to the Department of Financial & Professional Regulation
  • Your Illinois RN License number
  • Copy of your current national certification
  • Official, sealed college transcript showing receipt of a graduate degree in your category

If you have been licensed in another state in the past five years, you must also complete Document CT-APN, (included within the application packet). This must be forwarded to the Board of Nursing in any state in which you have practiced in the past five years. The Board(s) must then complete the document and return it to the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation.

If you are seeking APN licensure in more than one category, your transcript must show that your graduate education would support an additional license in another category. You must also submit proof of national certification in every category in which you wish to practice.

Send your application and all supporting documentation to the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, ATTN: Division of Professional Regulation, P.O. Box 7007, Springfield, IL 62791.

Prescriptive Authority

If you are seeking an APN mid-level practitioner controlled substances license, complete Mid-Level Practitioner Controlled Substances License application (included in the application packet) and include the additional $5 licensing fee made payable to the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation.

Your collaborating physician must also complete the Notice of Delegated Prescriptive Authority for Controlled Substances (included in the application packet) to attest to an established collaborative agreement that will support your prescriptive authority.

Criminal History Background Check

As part of your APN application, you must fill out Document CCA, Health Care Workers Charged With or Convicted of Criminal Acts (included in the application packet). This authorizes the Department to investigate information pertaining to certain convictions or charges.


Step 4. Renewing Your License

Your APN license expires on May 31 of every even-numbered year and may be renewed online.

At the time of your APN license renewal, you will be asked to submit a copy of your national certification, copy of your active RN license, proof of completion of 50 hours of CE completed in the past two years, and renewal fees, payable to the Department of Financial & Professional Regulation.

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If documents required for renewal are not accepted by the online license renewal system, send them to the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, ATTN: Division of Professional Regulation, P.O. Box 7007, Springfield, IL 62791.

Continuing Education

You must complete 50 contact hours of continuing education (CE) every two years to maintain your APN license in Illinois. If you hold more than one APN license, you need only complete 50 total contact hours of CE.

Additionally, you must fulfill the CE requirements of your national certification agency. Contact your agency for details:

  • American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
  • American Nurses Credentialing Center
  • American Association of Critical Care Nurses
  • National Certification Corporation
  • Pediatric Nurse Certification Board
  • National Board of Certification & Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists
  • American Midwifery Certification Board
  • Rehabilitation Nursing Certification Board
  • Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation
  • American College of Cardiovascular Nurses
  • American Association of Neuroscience Nurses
  • American Board of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc.
  • American Holistic Nurses Certification Corporation
  • American Board of Perianesthesia Nursing Certification, Inc.
  • American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses
  • HIV/AIDS Nursing Certification Board
  • Board of Certification of Emergency Nurses
  • Competency and Credentialing Institute
  • American Board of Certification for Gastroenterology Nurses
  • Dermatology Nursing Certification Board
  • International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners
  • International Nurses Society on Addictions
  • Infusion Nurses Certification Corporation
  • National Board for Certification of School Nurses, Inc.
  • National Board of Certification of Hospice and Palliative Nurses
  • National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators
  • National Certifying Board for Ophthalmic Registered Nurses
  • Board of Nephrology Examiners Nursing and Technology
  • Orthopaedic Nursing Certification Board
  • Vascular Nursing Certification Board
  • Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Certification Board

Proof of active, current national certification is required for APN license renewal.

Expired License Restoration Application

If your APN license has expired or been on inactive status for more than five years, you may apply for its restoration. Use the Advanced Practice Nurse Licensure Application and fill out RS Form (Restoration) included in the packet.

You must provide proof of completing 50 contact hours of CE in the past two years, proof of current national certification, verification of any licensure from other states, and the restoration fee, payable to the Department of Financial & Professional Regulation.

Advanced Practice Nurse Associations in Illinois

Illinois APNs enjoy the option to join a number of professional organizations that provide continuing education and advocacy services to advanced practice nurses in the state:


Illinois Nurse Practitioner Salary

Being a nurse practitioner (NP) in Illinois pays well. On average, NPs make six figures: $112,060 per year.

The top 10 percent of NPs make even more, bringing in at least $144,620 annually. Even in Chicago, that income will get you far.

Area Name
Employment
Annual mean wage
Bloomington
100
125560
Carbondale-Marion
150
103060
Champaign-Urbana
320
111070
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
4760
112010
Decatur
-
113520
East Central Illinois nonmetropolitan area
160
107720
Kankakee
100
111640
Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area
120
108680
Peoria
300
119050
Rockford
250
118100
South Illinois nonmetropolitan area
80
108090
Springfield
330
115110
West Central Illinois nonmetropolitan area
180
113740

Registered Nurse Salary

In Illinois, registered nurses (RNs) make an average $74,560 per year. If you hope to break six figures with this title, you’re in luck. The top RNs in the state make $103,210 or better annually.

Area Name
Employment
Annual mean wage
Bloomington
1290
63970
Carbondale-Marion
2120
63740
Champaign-Urbana
2150
63310
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
95730
77970
Danville
600
74680
Decatur
1130
71400
East Central Illinois nonmetropolitan area
2450
59510
Kankakee
1570
75460
Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area
2710
63040
Peoria
5630
68580
Rockford
3960
69880
South Illinois nonmetropolitan area
2310
60840
Springfield
3700
72050
West Central Illinois nonmetropolitan area
4160
62600

Nursing Instructors and Teachers Salary

If you want to teach, nursing instructors in Illinois make $74,870 per year. That will do more than get you by in a state like Illinois.

Area Name
Employment
Annual median wage
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
1600
73080
Danville
NA
59960
Springfield
120
95420
West Central Illinois nonmetropolitan area
70
60870

Nurse Administrator Salary

(Includes Nurse Managers, Directors, and Chief Nursing Officers)

Have ambitions to manage a team or department? Nurse administrators make a pretty penny in Illinois. The average annual salary for these folks is $124,940 per year. As they move up in their careers, admins report making at least $146,880 annually.

Area Name
Employment
Annual mean wage
Bloomington
170
111060
Carbondale-Marion
220
99060
Champaign-Urbana
340
129650
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
10510
128980
Danville
80
127530
Decatur
80
97070
East Central Illinois nonmetropolitan area
250
116350
Kankakee
150
114770
Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area
300
104950
Peoria
620
127250
Rockford
260
112350
South Illinois nonmetropolitan area
230
105940
Springfield
140
124400
West Central Illinois nonmetropolitan area
480
94910

Nurse Anesthetists Salary

Becoming an anesthetist will set you up well in life. In Illinois, the average salary for a nurse anesthetist is $194,950 per year. What do the top earners make? More than what the Bureau of Labor Statistics Reports – so, well over $208,000.

Area Name
Employment
Annual mean wage
Carbondale-Marion
60
NA
Champaign-Urbana
NA
202420
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
1060
175560
East Central Illinois nonmetropolitan area
40
233870
Springfield
170
235860
West Central Illinois nonmetropolitan area
60
213140

Nurse Midwives Salary

Want to deliver babies while making over $100,000 a year? Move to Illinois and become a midwife. Midwives in this state report making $109,310 annually. That’s a great living. If you move into the top 10 percent, you could end up making at least $142,080 per year.

Area Name
Employment
Annual mean wage
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
170
104680


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.

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