has anyone used their license in one state to another state?

RN403, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2014

If you live in a compact state and are planning on working in another compact state, then, yes. If you do not live in a compact state then you must apply for licensure (I think it is licensure by endorsement?) in the state in which you wish to work. You can find the complete processes on the BON's website of the state(s) in which you wish to live and work.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Oct 30, 2014

let's say you're licensed in california and you might want to use the license in new york or massachusetts. has anyone done that before?

You can't. CA is a single state license. Unless working in a federal or government facility you would need to apply to endorse your CA LVN license to MA and/or NY and pay all required fees.

And only if you graduated from a LVN program not used the alternate experience/education method as those are only valid in CA and not eligible to endorse to any other state.

You must be a legal resident of a compact state like TX, NE, MD or VA to have a multi state compact license and even then it's only valid to work in other compact states. CA, MA and NY are not a part of the nursing license compact so this is not applicable

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 31, 2014

let's say you're licensed in california and you might want to use the license in new york or massachusetts. has anyone done that before?

As previous posters have mentioned, you cannot legally work in New York or Massachusetts under a California nursing license. You must obtain a New York license via endorsement to work in New York, and you must obtain a Massachusetts license via endorsement to legally work in Massachusetts.

More than 20 states are part of the Nurse Licensure Compact, so if you are a permanent resident of a compact state and are licensed by that state's BON, your nursing license will have multistate privileges enabling you to work in the other compact states without obtaining new licensed for each state. However, CA, NY, MA and 20+ other states are not part of the Nurse Licensure Compact.