Applying Out of State

[oldcatlady71]

Hi Everyone, I am a new graduate nurse just passed my boards in August on Long Island in New York. I have been desperately applying to hospitals, SNF's doctors offices for 3-4 months now and not a single call back or interview. I am thinking of applying out of state in hopes that it is not as bad as it is here in New York. I was thinking of applying to either North Dakota, Florida, Pennsylvania. I am still a little confused about the nurse licensure compact but I guess what I am really wondering is am I allowed to apply out of state with my New York license and then get endorsed in another state? Or do you have to have the other states license first... Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

New York is not a compact state.

https://www.ncsbn.org/nlc.htm

You will have to endorse your license to wherever you plan on moving to. If you move to state that is a compact state (for example, North Dakota) then may have a compact license that will allow you to practice in other states that follow the NLC.

I graduated from a program in Ohio in December 2010. I took my NCLEX in March and opted out of a license in Ohio and instead got licensed in Texas, because I knew I was moving there. At that time I was not granted a compact license because my primary residence was still in Ohio. Once I submitted that change to the TX BON (primary residence is now in Texas), the board issued me a compact license instead. To my understanding, you can have a compact license as long as you maintain your primary residence in a compact state.