The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) is an agreement that allows mutual recognition (reciprocity) of a

nursing license Nurse licensure is the process by which various regulatory bodies, usually a Board of Nursing, regulate the practice of nursing within its jurisdiction. The primary purpose of nurse licensure is to grant permission to practice as a nurse after verif ...

between member U.S. states ("compact states"). Enacted into law by the participating states, the NLC allows a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

who is a legal resident of and possesses a nursing license in a compact state (their "home state") to practice in any of the other compact states (the "remote states") without obtaining additional licensure in the remote states. It applies to both registered and

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nurses and is also referred to as a multi-state license. Per the NLC rules, nurses who are licensed in and legal residents of a compact state may not hold licenses from other compact statesthat is, they can only hold one compact state license at a time, which must be from their home state, and a nurse temporarily practicing in a remote state retains their license in their home state. However, if a nurse changes their primary state of residence from one compact state to another compact state, they must transfer their license by applying for licensure by endorsement in the new home state; upon issuance of the new home state license, the license from the former home state is inactivated. A license obtained in a compact state that is not one's state of legal residency is not recognized by the other compact members, so nurses who are legal residents of non-compact states must obtain licenses for each compact state in which they wish to practice.

Participating states

Nurse Licensure Compact Member Status Map2

As of January, 2023, the 37 NLC states are: *Alabama *Arizona *Arkansas *Colorado *Delaware *Florida *Georgia *Idaho *Indiana *Iowa *Kansas *Kentucky *Louisiana *Maine *Maryland *Mississippi *Missouri *Montana *Nebraska *New Hampshire *New Jersey *New Mexico *North Carolina *North Dakota *Ohio *Oklahoma *Pennsylvania (awaiting implementation) *South Carolina *South Dakota *Tennessee *Texas *Utah *Vermont *Virginia *West Virginia *Wisconsin *Wyoming *Guam (partial implementation) *Virgin Islands (awaiting implementation) Nine other states all have active NLC bills. They are: Alaska, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.

References

External links

National Council of State Boards of Nursing

at the Texas Board of Nursing

National Council of State Boards of Nursing. 2009-03-07. Retrieved 2015-03-07

{{nursing United States interstate compacts Nursing in the United States