How do I get licensed in two states at the same time?

[studentnurse1989]

This might be a silly question, but I really don't know anything about it. If I want to get licensed in two states for the first time after being a new grad, how do I do that? Do I have to write two separate licensing exams? What if one state is part of the Nurse Licensure Compact, and the other is not?

Thank you very much!! :)

[elkpark]

You can't (at least, not in the way you suggest). You apply for licensure in one state, and, once you have that license, you can apply for licenses in as many other states as you wish by endorsement. But you can only apply for initial licensure in one state. You only have to write the NCLEX once.

The NLC (Nurse Licensure Compact) only matters if you actually live in a state that is a member of the compact. In that case, when you apply for licensure, you will get a license with "compact privileges," that you can (also) use to work in any other compact state. If you apply for licensure in a compact state but live somewhere else (in a non-compact state), you will still get a license, but it will just be a traditional, "regular" license that is only good in that state and can't be used anywhere else.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Yep. I live in a nonCompact state, and that's my primary licensure. Because of my work I have licenses in 8 states, and although some of them are Compact states I had to buy them all a la carte, one by one, because you can only get a multistate Compact license if your legal residence is in one of them.

Sit for NCLEX wherever it's convenient for you -- it doesn't have to be in the state where you went to school -- and then write to the other state where you want licensure and get it from them by endorsement (and $$).

[studentnurse1989]

Thanks so much! :)

[studentnurse1989]

Thanks! That's a good idea. :)

[mariebailey, MSN, RN]

Here's a link to a site that explains how it works: https://www.ncsbn.org/nlc.htm#moving

[studentnurse1989]

Thanks!