How to Become a Florida Nursing Home Administrator

To become a nursing home administrator in Florida, you need a bachelor’s degree, a supervised training program of 650 to 2,000 hours depending on your major, and passing scores on three examinations — two national and one state-specific. The Florida Board of Nursing Home Administrators, part of the Department of Health, issues the license under Part II of Chapter 468, Florida Statutes.¹ What the process looks like in practice depends almost entirely on what you studied and how your training is structured.

Pick the Pathway That Matches Your Degree

Every applicant needs at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. From there, Florida recognizes three tracks. The Board publishes a licensure pathways matrix that lays them out side by side, and it’s worth reviewing before you commit to a plan.²

Healthcare Degree With a 650-Hour University Internship

This is the shortest track. You qualify if you majored in health care administration, health services administration, or an equivalent field with at least 60 semester hours in subjects that prepare you for total facility management, and your degree program included a college- or university-affiliated internship of at least 650 hours. The internship must be completed under a board-approved preceptor in a skilled nursing facility with at least 60 beds.³

Healthcare Degree With a 1,000-Hour AIT Program

Applicants with the same healthcare administration degree or 60 qualifying semester hours who did not complete a university-affiliated internship instead complete a 1,000-hour Administrator-In-Training (AIT) program prescribed by the Board.³ Qualifying coursework must cover areas like general administration, accounting, personnel management, and long-term health care.

Any Bachelor’s Degree With a 2,000-Hour AIT Program

If your bachelor’s is in an unrelated field, you can still qualify, but you need double the training hours: a 2,000-hour AIT program.³ At roughly a year of full-time work, this is the route most career-changers end up taking.

Line Up a Qualified Preceptor Early

For the 1,000-hour and 2,000-hour tracks, the AIT is a structured period of supervised, hands-on training inside an operating skilled nursing facility with at least 60 beds. The Board must approve your AIT plan before you start logging hours.³

Your preceptor is the licensed administrator who supervises the training, and they have to meet specific standards. They need at least three years of active practice as a nursing home administrator within the last five years, no disciplinary actions during that period, and completion of a six-hour Board-approved preceptor training seminar within the three years before your application.⁴ Finding someone who fits is often the biggest logistical hurdle, so start early.

Pass Three Examinations

Florida requires three passing exam scores before it will issue the license. You must be approved by the Board before you can schedule any of them.

The CORE and NHA National Exams

The two national exams are developed and administered by the National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards (NAB): the Core of General Knowledge (CORE) exam and the Nursing Home Administrator (NHA) exam.⁵ The CORE exam covers foundational management and care knowledge across 125 questions in 150 minutes; the NHA exam tests nursing-home-specific competencies across 75 questions in 90 minutes.⁶

As of February 1, 2026, the combined CORE + NHA application fee is $480, paid directly to NAB. If you withdraw an application, NAB keeps a 40% processing fee. Starting January 1, 2026, candidates are limited to four attempts per exam during each examination cycle, which runs July 1 through June 30, and the attempt count resets each July 1.⁶

The Florida Laws and Rules Exam

On top of the two national exams, every applicant must pass a state-specific exam covering Florida’s laws and regulations governing nursing home administration.⁵ The Florida Department of Health develops the exam and a contracted testing vendor administers it.⁷

Fees and Background Screening

Once your education, training hours, and preceptor sign-off are in place, you submit the application package to the Board. Everything has to be verified before you receive exam eligibility.

The state fees for initial licensure by examination total $755:

Initial licensure fee: $500
State examination fee: $250
Unlicensed activity fee: $5

The $500 licensure fee and $250 exam fee are set by Board rule.⁸ The $5 unlicensed activity fee is a statewide surcharge on health profession applications. Add the $480 NAB fee and your upfront cost for exams and licensing is at least $1,235, before background screening.

Florida also requires electronic fingerprinting and a background check through the Clearinghouse Applicant Initiated (CHAI) system. You have to use a Livescan provider approved by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that participates in the Clearinghouse and captures a photograph.⁹ After your appointment, get your Transaction Control Number from the provider and complete the Privacy Policy Affirmation so the Department of Health can access your results. Screening fees vary by vendor but generally run $40 to $105.

Fingerprints must be retained every five years. The retention window opens 75 days before your fingerprint expiration date and closes 15 days before it expires; miss it and you’ll have to complete an entirely new screening.⁹ The Department cannot issue or renew a license until screening is complete.

If You’re Already Licensed in Another State

Florida offers a faster endorsement route for administrators licensed elsewhere. You apply to the Department, pay a fee not exceeding $500, and show you meet the requirements under Section 456.0145, Florida Statutes.¹⁰

While endorsement is pending, you may qualify for a one-time temporary license. You need to have worked as a fully licensed NHA for at least two of the last five years, and the fee runs up to $750. The temporary license is tied to a specific facility and cannot be transferred to another home or another person. You must sit for the next available Florida Laws and Rules exam. If any state is investigating you, the Department will not issue the temporary license until that investigation closes.¹⁰

Keeping the License Once You Have It

Licenses renew every two years. The biennial renewal fee is $325 plus the $5 unlicensed activity fee, for a total of $330.⁸ Renewal requires completing approved continuing education hours and reporting them through CE Broker. Florida mandates certain topics for all health care practitioners, including prevention of medical errors and human trafficking awareness. Total CE hours and any additional topic requirements are set by Board rule, so check the current requirements before each cycle.

If you want to stop practicing but keep the license, you can elect inactive status at renewal. You pay a reduced fee and skip CE while inactive, but you cannot practice. Reactivating means making up the CE you would have completed during the inactive period, paying active status fees for each biennium the license was inactive, and paying a reactivation fee. If the license has been inactive for more than two consecutive biennial cycles and you have not practiced in another state for at least two of the last four years, you must appear before the Board and demonstrate that you can still practice safely.¹¹ Letting the license sit inactive for years creates real barriers to getting back in.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 468 – Miscellaneous Professions and Occupations
2
Florida Board of Nursing Home Administrators. Nursing Home Administrator Licensure Pathways Matrix
3
Florida Board of Nursing Home Administrators. Florida Board of Nursing Home Administrators – Nursing Home Administrator
4
Florida Board of Nursing Home Administrators. Preceptor Certification
5
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 64B10-11.002 – Eligibility Requirements for Licensure
6
National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards. Exam Information
7
Florida Department of Health, Board of Nursing Home Administrators. Application for Nursing Home Administrators Examination and Endorsement
8
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 64B10-12.0001 – Fees
9
FL HealthSource. Background Screening Initiate a Screening
10
The 2025 Florida Statutes. Florida Code 468.1705 – Licensure by Endorsement and Temporary License
11
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 64B10-13.200 – Inactive Status and Reactivation