Multiple Licensing

You only have to take the NCLEX once. CA is not a compact state, so you would have to have your CA license endorsed into the second state. If you know you are moving you might want to get your initial license from that state in order to save yourself time, money, and aggravation. License generally must be renewed every two years. Check with the individual state you will be working in.

Hello CT.

I got my license last year in California, then last month moved to Mississippi to see family and maybe get a job and out here. Mississippi is a compact state, so I got a temporary permit which will be good for 90 days, and am waiting for the Mississippi license. It is a regular license. They get an endorsement from the state you are from, run a background check then issue a regular license. It will probably be a week or two more before I get the license, most likely because the board of nursing here is waiting on the California board of nursing to send the endorsement.

By the way, it cost more for the endorsement from California than the Mississippi license cost.

When I get the license, I will retain my California license also, which I will have to renew, but why not?

I hope this information helps.

There is a lot of confusion about the NLC (Nurse Licensure Compact). The easiest way to understand it is to think about your driver's license, because it works exactly the same way. The only reason we're able to drive cross-country without having to stop at each state border and apply for a new license is because, many decades ago, all fifty states got together and signed a compact agreeing to recognize each other's driver's licenses. We all understand that you can drive as long and as far as you want to anywhere else in the country on your "home" license, but, if you move to another state, you have to get a new license in your new home state.

"Compact" nursing licenses work the same way (except that not all states have chosen to join the NLC, so it only applies to states that have joined). It's not as simple as "your license carries over with you." The way it works is that you can use your "home" compact license to work in any other compact state as long as you maintain your permanent residence in your home state, but, if you move to another state, even another compact state, you have to apply for a new license in that state (same as with your driver's license). This is most useful for people who live near state borders (bordering other compact states) and traveling nurses, but it's nothing like a "national" or "permanent" license, as a lot of people seem to think.

Since the NCLEX is nationally standardized, you can apply for licensure in whatever state you want and take the exam, physically, anywhere that's convenient for you. If you're sure you're moving to NC right away, you can apply for initial licensure in NC and take the NCLEX-PN in CA. NC licenses are good for two years. If you're going to be staying in CA, then, when you're ready to move to NC, check the NC BON website (www.ncbon.org) and look for the information and forms for application for licensure "by endorsement." All the info you need should be there. Sorry, I don't have any idea how long the process would take -- but the NC BON seems to be pretty prompt and efficient in general (I'm in NC).