Which licensure type allowed individuals to practice nursing as long as they did not use the letters RN after their name, and is no longer legal?

• A. Permissive Licensure
• B. Institutional Licensure
• C. Reciprocity
• D. Licensure

Answer: (A)

The concept being tested is how nursing regulation has shaped who may practice and how titles are used. Permissive licensure allowed individuals to practice nursing without a state license, as long as they did not use the RN title after their name. This meant they could work in nursing roles but could not claim the official credential, which was intended to protect the public while licensing frameworks were still developing. Over time, this approach was deemed unsafe and was eliminated, with the shift toward mandatory licensure: you must meet defined education and examination requirements to practice and to use the RN title.

So this option fits because it describes practicing without licensure while refraining from using the RN designation, and it notes that such practice is no longer legal. The other concepts don’t match this specific arrangement: institutional licensure governs practice within a particular facility, reciprocity deals with recognizing licenses from other jurisdictions, and licensure in general refers to the formal process to obtain the right to practice and to use professional titles.