If I move to a different state, will I have to do the nursing boards exam again?

KaroSnowQueen, RN · Apr 18, 2008

IF you have already passed NCLEX, you will recieve a license in your current state of residence.

THEN you will have to apply to your new state for reciprocity, pay some dollars, send in some paperwork, wait around til they get on it and send you the new license in the new state.

OF COURSE, I'm not sure about what happens if you are in compact state. Someone else can jump in here and help me and you out with explaining this.

IF you move before you take NCLEX, then you would have to arrange to take the NCLEX in your new home state and be licensed there for the first time.

PiPhi2004 · Apr 18, 2008

Nope, I graduated in WV got my lic there and went to NC, I have licenses in both states and I'm moving to OH and I will get a lic there too lol only one test. If i had to take the test again I'd definately think about that one LOL. :nurse:

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2008

Here is the answer to your question in a neatly-packed nutshell.

Once you pass NCLEX, you will never need to take it again, even if you relocate to another state. When you move to another state, you will simply need to endorse your nursing licensure into the new state of residence.

rn/writer, RN · Apr 18, 2008

Once you pass NCLEX, you will never need to take it again, even if you relocate to another state.

This is true, and it is a fact for which we are all exceedingly grateful.

One thing to keep in mind--if you live in a compact state, you can have your license endorsed in another compact state to work there. If you move to a different state, you will have to apply for a new license there, even if it is a compact state.

Endorsement covers working in another state and is helpful for travel nurses and people who live close enough to the border of their home state to cross the line and hold a job "next door." It does not apply when you actually change your state of residence. Then you have to get a new license.

You can contact the BON in the state you are moving to and find out how to apply.

nursejohio, ASN, RN · Apr 18, 2008

If you aren't planning to work at all in the state you're in now, you can just take the NCLEX for the state you'll be moving to. The beauty of the computerized testing centers is that you can take any states exam, from any other state. I took my Ohio boards in Florida, just because I was gonna be there on vacation and didn't want to wait another month for the local centers next available opening.

rn/writer, RN · Apr 19, 2008

NCLEX is a national test. You don't have to take it in a specific state. It is the same test, no matter where you take it.

You don't have to apply for a license in the stare you're moving from. You can wait and apply in your new state. No matter what you do, the same NCLEX results will be used.

The only reason you might want to apply in your old state is if you think you might move back there at some point. Otherwise, just go for licensure in the new state.

I wish you the best.

rn/writer, RN · Apr 19, 2008

I think there is some confusion about state Boards of Nursing and nursing boards. The individual Boards of Nursing are the agencies that issue licenses. "Nursing boards" is an outdated term for NCLEX. One is an organization. The other is a test used by that organization to determine eligibility for licensure. They are not the same thing.

Once again, NCLEX is a national test. Every nurse, from Alabama to Wyoming, from Hawaii to Maine, takes the same test. Once you pass, you need never take it again no matter where you want to work or live in the US.

P_RN, ADN, RN · Apr 19, 2008

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

Read up on compact status.

The old term for "boards" was the State Board Test Pool Examination. 5 tests over 2 days. Limited to your state. Reciprocity was usually granted when you moved. In the compact now, if you leave the state where you own your original license, THAT LICENSE ceases to exist. You must make arrangements to have a license in your new state of residence. All the states are NOT in the compact though.

P_RN, ADN, RN · Apr 19, 2008

Oh, one additional thing. One state, California has an RN license that was obtained by certain LVNs taking a certain number of courses to become an RN in CALIFORNIA ONLY. THAT RN will not transfer ANYWHERE!

penguin2 · Apr 19, 2008

It's true, you never have to take the exam again. (phew!) Still, some RNs I know sware certain states (CA, OH) are "harder" to get an RN license in, so they never let it expire in their original state of licensure. Anyone know if this is true? Why would one state be 'harder' than any other since it's a national standardized exam??

rn/writer, RN · Apr 20, 2008

It's true, you never have to take the exam again. (phew!) Still, some RNs I know sware certain states (CA, OH) are "harder" to get an RN license in, so they never let it expire in their original state of licensure. Anyone know if this is true? Why would one state be 'harder' than any other since it's a national standardized exam??

It may indeed be more difficult to become licensed in some states than in others, but this would have more to do with the expectations of the individual boards of nursing than NCLEX. The Big Exam is only one of a number of conditions that have to be met to qualify for licensure.

State BONs can be very different, and even within a state, the BON can vary over time. These boards are made up of people. As they change, so change the boards. One board might operate in a fairly lenient manner. Another, not so much. This goes far beyond NCLEX.

You may not have been saying this, but I just want to head it off at the pass. NCLEX is the same test no matter where it is administered. That includes foreign countries where nurses have to take it successfully if they want to immigrate to the US. There is no "state version" of the test.