Pennsylvania has about 13.1 million residents. Registered nurses average $94,020 a year, 26th among the fifty states and the District of Columbia.
Licensure
The Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing licenses registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and certified registered nurse practitioners through the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs. Its office is on North 7th Street in Harrisburg, telephone (833) 367-2762. Rules and applications are on the state board of nursing's page at pa.gov.
Pennsylvania implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact in July 2025, after years in which the legislation sat on the books unfunded. For two years before that it was in partial implementation, a state few people understand: nurses holding a multistate license from elsewhere could work in Pennsylvania, but Pennsylvania residents could not obtain one. A nurse living here can now hold one, good in every other compact state, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey included. New York stays outside.
Nurse practitioner practice
Pennsylvania is in the reduced practice group. A certified registered nurse practitioner must keep collaborative agreements with physicians in order to prescribe and to practice, and those agreements are filed with the board. See nurse practitioner practice authority.
Nursing history
Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, founded in 1751, was the first hospital in the American colonies, and Philadelphia became an early center of organized nursing education. Linda Richards, the first professionally trained American nurse, later headed the Philadelphia Visiting Nurses Society.
Nellie Wade, who went on to become the oldest practicing nurse in Florida, was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, and trained during the Second World War in the Cadet Nurse Corps. See history of nursing.
Nursing education
The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia is one of the leading nursing research faculties in the world, and much of the staffing and mortality research cited across this wiki came out of it. The University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, the Nese College of Nursing at Penn State, Thomas Jefferson University, Villanova and Duquesne carry further large programs, and Pennsylvania has an unusual number of hospital based diploma programs still operating, a remnant of the era when that was how nurses were trained. See entry into practice and the BSN requirement.
Pay and workforce
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh hold the largest markets. Philadelphia carries Penn Medicine, Jefferson Health, Temple University Hospital and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Pittsburgh carries UPMC and Allegheny Health Network, and UPMC ranks among the largest employers of any kind in the state.
Harrisburg, Allentown, Scranton and Erie hold regional systems, while central and northern Pennsylvania are rural, with Geisinger covering a long stretch of that ground alongside critical access hospitals. Pennsylvania has one of the older populations in the country, which puts a lot of weight on long term care and home health.
Related
- Nurse Licensure Compact
- The Cadet Nurse Corps
- Nurse practitioner practice authority
- History of nursing
- Nursing by state
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, state population estimates for July 1, 2025. Accessed September 8, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, registered nurses (29-1141), May 2025. Accessed September 8, 2026.
- Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing, contact details and licensing information. Accessed September 8, 2026.
- Nurse Licensure Compact, member states and implementation dates. Accessed September 8, 2026.
- American Association of Nurse Practitioners, State Practice Environment. Accessed September 8, 2026.