How to Transfer Your Nursing License to New York

What New York law requires

• ICU nurse-to-patient ratio

  New York hospitals must assign at least one registered nurse for every two patients needing intensive or critical care.

  “There shall be a minimum of one registered professional nurse assigned to care for every two patients that an attending practitioner determines to require intensive or critical care.” 10 NYCRR § 405.22(a)(5) (source: 10 NYCRR § 405.22(a)(5))

• Nurse staffing committee or plan (in effect from 2022)

  General hospitals must keep a clinical staffing committee and submit an annual clinical staffing plan to the state.

  “Each general hospital licensed pursuant to this article shall establish and maintain a clinical staffing committee, either by creating a new committee or assigning the functions of the clinical staffing committee to an existing committee, no later than January first, two thousand twenty-two.” N.Y. Public Health Law § 2805-t (source: N.Y. Public Health Law § 2805-t)

• Public reporting of staffing

  Hospitals must post each unit's staffing plan and actual daily staffing publicly, and the state posts plans on each hospital health profile.

  “Each general hospital shall post, in a publicly conspicuous area on each patient care unit, the clinical staffing plan for that unit and the actual daily staffing for that shift on that unit as well as the relevant clinical staffing.” N.Y. Public Health Law § 2805-t (source: N.Y. Public Health Law § 2805-t)

• Limits on mandatory overtime (in effect from 2009)

  Health care employers may not require nurses to work beyond scheduled hours except for disaster, declared emergency, unforeseen emergency or a procedure in progress; use of exceptions must be reported (covers registered nurses and licensed practical nurses at health care employers).

  “Section 167 of the New York Labor Law restricts health care employers, as defined in the statute, from requiring nurses to work beyond their regularly scheduled hours, with four limited exceptions.” N.Y. Lab. Law § 167 (source: N.Y. Lab. Law § 167)

From New York's own code or health department, read 9 Nov 2026. What New York's hospitals state for their units is on its nurse-to-patient ratio page, and every state's law is on the ratio hub.