Category F: CNS or DACBN Pathway

You will need to provide all of the following documents:

• Official Transcripts;
• Copy of a government-issued photo ID;
• Verification of your credential (CNS or DACBN);
• NCBDN’s Form A-3: Supervised Practice Experience Candidate Report;
• NCBDN’s Form A-4: Supervisor Approval Application(s) for each supervisor named on A3;
• NCBDN’s Form A-5: Supervised Practice Experience Supervisor’s Report(s) for each supervisor named on A3;
• NCBDN’s Form A-6: Coursework Worksheet;
• NCBDN’s Form A-7 (download) or similar detailed daily tracking log.

Note: The NCBDN does not accept BCNS forms in place of A3, A4, A5 or A6. The newest version tracking log utilized by BCNS may be used in place of the NCBDN’s tracking log A7, so long as it has sufficient and detailed notes information regarding the activities completed during SPE hours.

All licenses issued in a calendar year are issued through March 31st of the following year, regardless of date of issuance. Annual renewal is $95 and renewal applications must be submitted online between January 1st – March 31st of each year.

Applicants for licensure should be aware that licensure in North Carolina is currently not by endorsement of the CNS credential. Rather, the law requires the Board to independently review an applicant’s academic program and supervised practice program to ensure both have met the law’s requirements. The CNS and DACBN exam are recognized as qualifying exams to meet the exam requirement under N.C.G.S. § 90-357.5(c)(3).

Once an application is deemed administratively complete:

• It will be reviewed by the Education Committee
• Then put forward at the Board’s next regularly scheduled Board meeting.

The applicant has received any of the following from a college or university accredited at the time of graduation from the appropriate regional accrediting agency recognized by the Council on Higher Education, or a validated foreign equivalent:

• A master’s or doctoral nutrition degree with a major in human nutrition, foods and nutrition, dietetics, community nutrition, public health nutrition, nutrition education, nutrition, nutrition science, clinical nutrition, applied clinical nutrition, nutrition counseling, nutrition and functional medicine, nutritional biochemistry, nutrition and integrative health, OR an equivalent course of study or a master’s or doctoral degree in a field of clinical health care.

Regardless of the course of study, an applicant shall have completed coursework from a regionally accredited college or university in medical nutrition therapy that shall consist of the following courses:

• ‎Fifteen semester hours of clinical or life sciences
  • Including such courses as chemistry, organic chemistry, biology, molecular biology, biotechnology, botany, genetics, genomics, neuroscience, experimental science, immunotherapy, pathology, pharmacology, toxicology, research methods, applied statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, oxidative/reductive dynamics, energy production, molecular pathways, hormone and transmitter regulations and imbalance, biotransformation pathways and imbalances, and pathophysiologic basis of disease.
  • At least three semester hours must be in human anatomy and physiology or the equivalent.
• ‎Fifteen semester hours of nutrition and metabolism
  • Including such courses as nutrition assessment, developmental nutrition, nutritional aspects of disease, human nutrition, macronutrients, micronutrients, vitamins and minerals, functional medicine nutrition, molecular metabolism, clinical nutrition, nutritional biochemistry, nutrition and digestive health, and public health nutrition.
  • At least six semester hours must be in biochemistry.

Note: Not all universities operate on semester hours; be sure you understand what credit system you completed coursework under. Quarter-hour programs will require conversion to meet the law’s requirement for semester hours.

Note: Six semester hours must be in Biochemistry-titled courses; partial credit from non-Biochemistry-titled courses will not be accepted.

The applicant must have completed a Board-approved internship or a documented, supervised practice experience in nutrition services of not less than 1000 hours involving at least 200 hours of nutrition assessment, 200 hours of nutrition intervention, education, counseling, or management, and 200 hours of nutrition monitoring or evaluation under the supervision of a Certified Nutrition Specialist, a Diplomate of the American Clinical Board of Nutrition, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, a licensed dietitian/nutritionist, a licensed nutritionist, a State-licensed health care practitioner whose licensed scope of practice includes dietetics or nutrition, or an individual with a doctoral degree conferred by a United States regionally accredited college or university with a major course of study in human nutrition, foods and nutrition, dietetics, community nutrition, public health nutrition, nutrition education, nutrition, nutrition science, clinical nutrition, applied clinical nutrition, nutrition counseling, nutrition and functional medicine, nutritional biochemistry, nutrition and integrative health, or an equivalent course of study, with a reasonable threshold of academic credits in nutrition and nutrition sciences as described in subdivision (1) of this subsection. Supervisors who obtained their doctoral degree outside of the United States and its territories must have their degrees validated by the Board as equivalent to the doctoral degree conferred by a United States regionally accredited college or university.

Note: As shown in the list of supervisors above, “State-licensed health care practitioner” has been determined by law to mean “NC-licensed health care practitioner.”

Note: Additional supervised practice requirements are also provided in 21 NCAC 17 .0104. For full details, please review the PDF linked here.