State and territorial governments established NRBs 100+ years ago to protect the public's health and welfare by ensuring the safe nursing practice. NRBs achieve this mission by outlining the standards for safe nursing care and issuing licenses to practice nursing. NRB's also monitor licensees' compliance to jurisdictional laws and take action against nurses who exhibit unsafe nursing practice.

All 59 NRBs in the U.S. are members of NCSBN.

Each jurisdiction has a law called the Nurse Practice Act. Nurses must comply with the law and related rules to maintain their licenses. The law describes:

• Licensure qualifications
• Permitted nursing titles
• Scope of practice (what nurses are allowed to do)
• What happens if a nurse doesn't follow nursing law