Can I work in two states?

chare · Apr 21

Yes, you can work in multiple states. Iowa and West Virginia are both members of the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC). If you are a legal resident of the state you're licensed in, your license should grant multi-state privileges, which would allow you to work in any of the other NLC states. As long as you maintain your primary state of residency in on state, working short periods in the other state shouldn't be an issue.

The bigger issue, I suspect, is going to be finding a position that will let you rotate in and out for a "few months."

MissMaryGrace · Apr 21

chare said:

The bigger issue, I suspect, is going to be finding a position that will let you rotate in and out for a "few months."

I see. In your experience/opinion, what is a realistic time period to rotate? Thanks for your thoughtful reply!

chare · Apr 21

MissMaryGrace said:

I see. In your experience/opinion, what is a realistic time period to rotate? Thanks for your thoughtful reply!

In my opinion, I don't see this as a workable option. If you move from IA to WV, and return to IA after a few months and apply tonthe facility you left, you might be offered a position. However, if you leave again and return after a short period, I suspect you are going to have a difficult time obtaining a position.

Best wishes.

Editorial Team / Admin · Apr 21

chare said:

The bigger issue, I suspect, is going to be finding a position that will let you rotate in and out for a "few months."

Agree with this. You will, first of all, need to establish competence and confidence. That's going to take about a year, maybe a little more, in just one job. No employer is going to want to hire and retrain someone every 6 months, and in fact a job history like that is likely to get an application/resume sent to "file 13" aka the trash. "Job hopping" does not make you a desirable candidate to those who are looking for a decent return on the investment of hiring and training you.

If you want to rotate between the two locations, you would be better off establishing experience in a job for at least 2 years, and then considering travel contracts. Most good agencies are going to require experience before accepting you, and most facilities, unless in the dire straights that we saw with COVID, also won't look at candidates without at least several years of experience. Of course, this is all dependent on the market for travel contracts as well, which are far less plentiful now than they were just a few short years ago.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Apr 25

Yes, you can work in multiple states. Either through being licensed in those individual states or by working in multiple states under one license as long as all locations are compact states. I live on the MN/WI border and many nurses in my community maintain licenses and work in both states, MN is not in the compact so this does require separate licenses for each state.

But a few miles commute across the border to another town is not a big deal. A commute from IA to WV is obviously not going to work. It is very unlikely you would find employer's in both states willing to hire you with a plan of moving back and forth between states every few months. The only option I can think of that might work is looking for a job as school nurse in your primary state and picking up a per diem position in the other state if you need to work during the times school is out, that would allow travel during school breaks and the long stretch off for Summer break.

Otherwise you could look for a job with a travel agency but you really should wait until you have at least a couple years experience before attempting that. Plus there's no guaranty you'd find reliable contracts in both communities. Travel positions are still plentiful, but not nearly as much so as they were a few years ago.

FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN · 2025-05-02T12:12:09Z

You can do a travel contract (usually 13 weeks) in one state and then a travel contract in the other state. But you need to have some experience before you take a travel contract.