Florida Nurse Registry Licensing: Requirements, Duties, and Penalties

To run a nurse registry in Florida, you need a license from the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). The Florida nurse registry license requirements include filing AHCA Form 3110-7004 with a $2,000 fee, showing financial ability to operate, documenting zoning compliance for every site, passing an AHCA survey, and then operating under Chapter 400 rules that govern caregiver screening, client disclosures, advertising, and emergency planning. The license runs for two years and must be renewed with the same form and fee.

What the License Covers

A Florida nurse registry arranges health-care contracts between clients and independent-contractor caregivers: registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, home health aides, companions, and homemakers. The caregivers are paid by fee and work in private homes, licensed health care facilities, or assisted living facilities.¹

One boundary matters before you apply. A nurse registry is strictly a matchmaker. It cannot monitor, supervise, manage, or train the caregivers it refers.² If your business model involves employing caregivers and directing their work, you need a home health agency license instead. Picking the wrong license wastes the application fee and leaves you unable to operate the way you planned.

Application Requirements

Every nurse registry must hold an AHCA license before it opens. The application is AHCA Form 3110-7004, and the licensure fee is $2,000.³ The applicant must be at least 18 years old.

With the application, you submit:

Evidence of financial ability to operate, using the financial schedules prescribed by AHCA rule.
Evidence of compliance with local zoning for your main operational site and for any satellite offices.³

Owners, the administrator, and referred caregivers are subject to background screening. In the health care context this is a Level 2 screening with fingerprints processed through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.⁴

AHCA will not issue the license until its representatives conduct a survey confirming compliance with the applicable laws and rules.³ Plan for the survey as part of your opening timeline.

Operational Sites and Satellite Offices

Each operational site must be licensed. There is one exception: multiple sites within the same health service planning district can be listed on a single license rather than each one carrying its own.²

Satellite offices are not separately licensed. A satellite shares administration, fiscal management, and services with the main site and gets listed on the main site’s license.³ A satellite can store records, register contractors, and conduct phone business, but all original records must stay at the main operational site. Before opening a satellite or relocating the main site, give written notice to AHCA at both the state and area office levels and submit evidence of your legal right to use the property and that the property is properly zoned.²

Renewal

The nurse registry license covers a two-year period, with a statutory fee cap of $2,000 per biennium.² Renewal uses the same form and fee. Renewal applicants may submit the online version (AHCA Form 3110-7004OL) through AHCA’s single sign-on portal.³

Caregiver Credentials You Must Verify

Before referring a caregiver, the registry must confirm the person meets the credential and health standards set by statute. The registry carries this responsibility; it does not pass to the client.

Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses must hold a current, valid Florida license under Part I of Chapter 464.⁵
Certified nursing assistants must hold current certification under Part II of Chapter 464.
Home health aides must provide documented proof of completing the training required by AHCA rule, with a minimum of 40 hours of instruction.²
Companions and homemakers may be referred for authorized services but cannot provide hands-on personal care.¹

For CNAs and home health aides, the registry must also confirm credentials showing training adequate to perform home health aide tasks in the home setting. Every referred caregiver, regardless of type, must provide current documentation that they are free from communicable diseases.² The statute requires the documentation to be current but does not fix an exact interval, so maintain a written policy for periodic updates.

Physician Notification for CNAs and Aides

When a CNA or home health aide is referred into a patient’s home, the patient must be under a physician’s care. The registry must obtain the attending physician’s name and address and send written notification to the physician within 48 hours after the contract is concluded.² The rule does not apply to RN or LPN referrals.

Client Disclosures You Must Make

At the time the contract for services is made, the registry must tell the patient, or the patient’s family or representative, that the referred caregiver is an independent contractor and that the registry has no authority to monitor, supervise, manage, or train the caregiver. This applies to every referral.

When a CNA or home health aide is referred to a home, the registry must also tell the patient that registered nurses are available to make home visits for an additional cost.²

The Independent Contractor Rule

Florida law classifies every caregiver referred through a nurse registry as an independent contractor, not an employee, regardless of other obligations the statute places on the registry.² The prohibition on supervision is absolute, and it exists in part to protect that classification.

If the registry learns of a law violation or a credential deficiency involving a referred caregiver, it must advise the patient to terminate the contract (with an explanation), stop referring that caregiver to other patients, and notify the appropriate licensing board if practice violations are involved.² The client, not the registry, directs the caregiver’s day-to-day work.

Operational Duties Once Licensed

Administrator Availability

The administrator, or a designated alternate, must be available to the public for any eight consecutive hours between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal and religious holidays. Available means on the premises or reachable by phone.³ An administrator may manage only one nurse registry, though the statute allows managing up to five if certain conditions are met.²

Emergency Management Plan

Every nurse registry must prepare and maintain a comprehensive emergency management plan, updated annually, that is consistent with the local special needs plan. The plan must describe how the registry will continue providing the same type and quantity of services to patients who evacuate to special needs shelters, and how it will facilitate continuous care for people on Florida’s special needs registry during a disaster. Not submitting the plan after written notification from the county health department triggers a $5,000 fine per occurrence.²

Advertising

Every advertisement for nurse registry services must include the AHCA license number. Fines are at least $100 for the first offense and $500 for each subsequent offense.² This catches websites and flyers more often than it catches print ads.

Penalties for Violations

Operating an unlicensed nurse registry after AHCA notifies you to stop and apply for a license is a second-degree misdemeanor. Each day of continued operation is a separate offense.
Failing to submit the comprehensive emergency management plan after written notification: $5,000 per occurrence.
Advertising without the license number: at least $100 for a first offense, $500 for each subsequent offense.
Referring caregivers without charge to a facility licensed under Chapter 429 in exchange for patient referrals: $15,000 fine. Providing services or staffing to an assisted living facility without receiving fair market value: $5,000 fine, plus possible license denial, suspension, or revocation.²

AHCA can also assess investigation costs against the registry when an investigation leads to a successful prosecution.

1
The Florida Legislature. 2025 Florida Statutes 400.462 – Definitions
2
The Florida Legislature. 2025 Florida Statutes 400.506 – Nurse Registries
3
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 59A-18.004 – Licensure Requirements, Procedures, and Fees
4
The Florida Legislature. 2025 Florida Statutes 408.810 – Minimum Licensure Requirements
5
Florida Board of Nursing. Licensing – Florida Board of Nursing