Research Methodology

Start with the decision the visitor must make

Research begins by naming the task: a public status check, an employer process, a compact-authority question, a disciplinary-document search or formal verification for endorsement. Only then do we choose a portal. This prevents a technically valid link from being presented as the answer to a different question.

Source hierarchy

1. The state board of nursing, responsible state licensing agency or official nurse aide registry.
2. NCSBN, Nursys and the official Nurse Licensure Compact organization.
3. Statutes, regulations and other government publications.
4. Secondary sources only to discover a primary document; they are not evidence for a publishable fact.

What we check for each state

• The regulator for RN, LPN/LVN, APRN and CNA credentials—including separate practical-nurse boards.
• The live public route, portal owner and credentials the service actually covers.
• State terminology such as LVN, LNA, SRNA or nursing assistant when it changes how a visitor finds the record.
• The difference between public lookup, employer checking and formal endorsement verification.
• The current NLC posture and the warning that state membership does not prove an individual license is multistate.
• Contact details and the agency path for a missing, disputed or stale source record.

How a state page becomes original

After the facts are mapped, the page is written around the state’s most consequential distinction. We do not use the same lead or “what is different” paragraph twice. A content gate requires seven original editorial fields for every state and rejects exact duplicated copy. Shared safety language remains consistent only where consistency protects the reader—for example, never equating an RN result with APRN authority.

When a separate credential page earns publication

All 50 state hubs provide the four core routes. A separate credential guide appears only when it can document a distinct portal, search process, result vocabulary, discipline workflow, formal-verification path or material troubleshooting advice. Otherwise the state hub gives the complete route without publishing a near-duplicate URL.

How we handle uncertainty

Unknown information is stored as unknown, not filled with an estimate. If official sources disagree, we favor the agency legally responsible for the fact, document the conflict and withhold a definitive claim until it can be resolved. Time-sensitive fees and processing estimates include a check date.

Review labels

“Official links manually checked” means an editor opened and inspected the cited official sources on the displayed date. It does not mean we certify the currency of individual records inside an external database. A “last reviewed” date changes only after a substantive research review, not to manufacture freshness.

What automation is—and is not—allowed to do

Build checks enforce 50-state coverage, four credential routes per state, original editorial fields, source references, unique canonicals, metadata, structured data and valid HTML. The one interactive route finder is isolated to the homepage and collects no identifiers. Automation can catch an omission. It cannot decide what a status means, resolve conflicting agency guidance or invent a state-specific fact.