Can you cancel your license

Nurses General Nursing

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Lets say you move to another state and do not plan on ever coming back to the previous one, can you cancel your license? Or terminate it as if you were never a nurse in that state?

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Just don't renew. Super easy

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Just don't renew. Super easy

No, not that easy at all. Failure to renew does not = license cancellation, only license expiration.

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Specializes in Pedi.
I would never let a license lapse, or expire. Doing so means that if you ever did want to work in that state again you'd have to take the nclex again and reapply for another license and who would want to do that?

This is most definitely not what it means. You don't have to take NCLEX every time you want a license in a new state. You simply apply for licensure by endorsement. Even if you let your license expire, reactivating it in a state you were previously licensed in is fairly easy.

OP, there is no way to make it as though your license in state #1 never existed nor can I imagine why you would want to do that. You need this license to apply for licensure by endorsement in your new state. And, as others have said, when you apply to new states the application will ask if you were ever licensed in another state or under another name.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
This is most definitely not what it means. You don't have to take NCLEX every time you want a license in a new state. You simply apply for licensure by endorsement. Even if you let your license expire, reactivating it in a state you were previously licensed in is fairly easy.

OP, there is no way to make it as though your license in state #1 never existed nor can I imagine why you would want to do that. You need this license to apply for licensure by endorsement in your new state. And, as others have said, when you apply to new states the application will ask if you were ever licensed in another state or under another name.

You are most definitely misunderstanding Extra Pickles' post.

OP wants to obliterate his/her license, as if it never existed. If one could indeed do that, then one would certainly be required to re-take the NCLEX, since the previous licensure would not exist.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
You are most definitely misunderstanding Extra Pickles' post.

OP wants to obliterate his/her license, as if it never existed. If one could indeed do that, then one would certainly be required to re-take the NCLEX, since the previous licensure would not exist.

Extra Pickles specifically stated not letting a license lapse or expire because of having to retake NCLEX. I don't think anyone is misunderstanding the post.

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I can understand and think of a few reasons why @RescueNinja123 would ask this question, and it has little to do with the hassles of maintaining a license. One of those reasons, pretty obvious if you ask me, is undoubtedly concerned with privacy issues. I have wondered if erasure was possible myself. Especially since I have a narcissistic ex who uses the public registry to keep tabs on my whereabouts. I highly doubt that it (erasure/removal from public registry) is possible, but I am going to call my regulatory college tomorrow and ask.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
Please provide a source for this claim. NCLEX is a national exam; why would one be forced to take it again simply because a licenses lapsed in a state in which one was not working? Applying for licensure by endorsement for new states or following the state's procedures for reactivating an expired or inactive license is adequate and proper procedure.

Reinstatement of a Lapsed License

In CA, if you have let your CA license lapse for more than 8 years, you will need to retake the NCLEX if you wish to be licensed again for CA. However, that is only if you did not have a current and active license in another state or Canada.

If you did have a current and active license for another state or Canada, then you can do it as a reinstatement. If you didn't, break out the review books.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

OP: as everyone else said, you can't "undo" having a license in another state. You can let your other license expire and not renew it (if you're not planning to work there in the near future), or opt for making that license Inactive (if there's a chance you might).

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Where on earth did that come from? Why would applying again for a license (in a state in which you were licensed in the past) be any different that applying for licensure by endorsement in any other state?

OOPS, I had a brain fart! I was thinking about letting a license expire when it's your only license, in which case YES you absolutely do have to repeat the NCLEX before you get a new license. That's all over the place, posts on the topic for nurses who did just that and now have to start over with NCLEX.

anyway, my bad, if you have a license anywhere else you can let one go. Although it doesn't disappear into smoke lol!

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Please provide a source for this claim. NCLEX is a national exam; why would one be forced to take it again simply because a licenses lapsed in a state in which one was not working? Applying for licensure by endorsement for new states or following the state's procedures for reactivating an expired or inactive license is adequate and proper procedure.

See my previous "brain fart" post! My mind went to what would happen if I let my ONLY license expire and that was not a pleasant image. Obscured reality of the question for a minute! Ooops.

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See my previous "brain fart" post! My mind went to what would happen if I let my ONLY license expire and that was not a pleasant image. Obscured reality of the question for a minute! Ooops.

That depends on the state. In my state, you do not have to retake the NCLEX no matter what. After a certain amount of time with an expired license, however, you DO have to take a BON approved refresher course, and provide proof of 80 hours of clinical time worked under the supervision of a current RN preceptor. The renewal fee payed to the BON is high, and you have to take any BON mandated CEU courses that are required of current RNs. The refresher courses can be very expensive.

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I was all over the place when I was applying to NP jobs (geographically), so I do have a few RN, and even NP licenses in states that I do not intend to practice within in the near future. I plan to let these lapse, because it isn't worth the renewal fee (unless my circumstances change, of course). As far as I know, you don't have to retest. You can just allow your license to relapse it and re-apply if you ever need it again.

What I am confused about is why you would want to negate the license entirely. Is there some reason you want it to appear as if you were never licensed in a particular state? I'm not sure if that is possible. You can let it lapse and, as others have said, be "inactive" but it will probably always show up as having existed. Would having this former license showing up as "inactive" be a problem in your situation?

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