Nurse Licensure Compact

The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) is an agreement that allows mutual recognition (reciprocity) of a nursing license between member U.S. states ("compact states").  Enacted into law by the participating states, the NLC allows a nurse 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 practical 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

As of October, 2023, the 39 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 (partial implementation as of September 5, 2023)
Rhode Island (implementation tentatively planned for January, 2024)
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont 
Virginia
Washington (partial implementation as of July 24, 2023-full implementation planned for early 2024)
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
The territory of the US Virgin Islands has passed NLC legislation and entered the compact, but is awaiting an implementation date

Guam has a partial implementation, which allows nurses who hold active, multi-state NLC licenses to practice in Guam. Nurses who claim Guam as their primary place of residency, however, cannot apply for a multi-state license until the NLC is fully implemented.

Seven other states and the District Of Columbia all have active NLC bills. They are:  Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and New York.

References

NLC history and basic information, bill progress, position statements

 Compact History: https://www.brookings.edu/2023/02/08/nurse-licensure-compacts-before-during-and-after-covid/ 
 Compact Nursing States: 2023 Updated Guide for RNs
 Explanation Of The NLC For Nurses: https://www.ncsbn.org/video/explanation-of-the-nurse-licensure-compact-for-nurses
 For Alaska Nurses: https://www.akml.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Res2023-17.pdf
 For Alaska Nurses: https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/Portals/5/pub/NLCOne-Pager_3.30.2023.pdf
 For Hawaii Nurses: https://www.civilbeat.org/2023/02/hawaii-is-short-medical-workers-are-interstate-compacts-the-solution
 For Michigan Nurses: https://www.wemu.org/michigan-news/2023-09-04/interstate-nurse-licensure-compact-bill-reintroduced
 For Nevada Nurses: https://nevadanursingboard.org/covid-19-resource-and-information/
 For Nevada Nurses: testimony from the Chair of the Nevada Nurses Association Legislative Committee:  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/82nd2023/ExhibitDocument/OpenExhibitDocument?exhibitId=66619&fileDownloadName=0407_AB108_swanson.c_ltrsup_public.pdf
 For New York Nurses:   https://youtu.be/gmnxHZ5BEOU  
 For Oregon Nurses: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Downloads/PublicTestimonyDocument/52829 
 For Pennsylvania Nurses: update on NLC implementation date: https://www.media.pa.gov/Pages/State-details.aspx?newsid=569 
 For Rhode Island Nurses: https://nursejournal.org/articles/rhode-island-travel-nursing-licensure-compact/ 
 For Washington Nurses:  https://www.ncsbn.org/news/washington-enacts-nurse-licensure-compact-nlc 
 For Washington Nurses: https://www.wsha.org/articles/washington-joins-the-multistate-nurse-licensure-compact-effective-ju

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

United States interstate compacts
Nursing in the United States