Licensure Question..Please Help!??

Nursing Students NCLEX

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I am graduating from a nursing school in South Dakota in May and my permanent address is in Iowa. However, I have already accepted an RN position in North Dakota even though I have not taken the NCLEX-RN. Do I have to apply to Iowa or can I apply directly to North Dakota? I would like to avoid paying the extra 200-300 dollars to get the ND endorsement. I plan on moving up to ND before I start working, and would declare ND as my primary state of residence. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

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If you know that you are going to North Dakota, just apply for licensure in North Dakota. As you note, there's no reason to spend the extra time and money getting a license you don't plan to use. You just need to tell your school that you want them to send your education info to North Dakota when you graduate (schools all automatically send all the necessary info on graduates to their own state BON -- they can send yours somewhere else, but they need to know that you want them to).

Best wishes!

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Specializes in ER.

You need to talk to the ND Board of Nursing on whether they will accept your educational information or if you need to get a license in South Dakota first. Some states will accept initial licensure applicants from other states and usually they require the program to fill out information about how many clinical hours and such. However, some may say no.

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These states are "Compact States" there is nothing to worry about. But in order to avoid spending that money, do it in ND. Gudluck in the future.

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Being that both states (Iowa & N. Dakota) are compact states you will have to apply for an Iowa license. Compact sates will not grant a license to residents of other compact states. With that being said, North Dakota will honor your Iowa license and allow you to work using your Iowa license.

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