license good for all states?

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ok i dont know if this was my friend making stuff up or not buut i was told that a wisconsin license will work anywhere in the us. and you wont have to retake each state exam if you move is this true??

im going to school in wi but movin east when im done so im curious...

thanks!!

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Every state has its own license, but the NCLEX is a national exam now, so after you pass, your license can be switched to any other state. Some states have reciprocity, but that is usually for 1) people who work for travel nursing, 3) work for the government (such as the VA hospital) or 3) a nurse that live at the border, for example in Colorado, yet work in a neighboring state, such as Utah. To find out if your state has that, you would have to look on your states board of nursing website.

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you can get a license in another state w/o taking a test, lots of traveling nurses and nurses who live close to state lines have multiple license but i am not sure about a nation wide license

check the traveling nurses threads maybe they can tell you

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thanks guys!

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

NCLEX is a national standardized exam. Once you take and pass NCLEX, you never take another exam. That is what is meant by reciprocity from state to state.

Endorsement is when you want to work in another state. You simply follow the procedure (application process) to endorse your license to the state you wish to work.

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The NCLEX exam has reciprocity, but licenses do not. It is a national exam and there are no more actual state boards, that used to be around.

There is no one license for all fifty state; there is something called a Compact License that is honored in the states that are covered by that, provided that you maintain your legal residence in that state. If you move out of it, then only the license in that actual state is valid, the compact part is gone.

As far as the travel nurses, if the state that you legally reside in is a compact state, and the state that they are going to work in is also part of it, then they do not need an additional license.

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The NCLEX exam has reciprocity, but licenses do not. It is a national exam and there are no more actual state boards, that used to be around.

There is no one license for all fifty state; there is something called a Compact License that is honored in the states that are covered by that, provided that you maintain your legal residence in that state. If you move out of it, then only the license in that actual state is valid, the compact part is gone.

As far as the travel nurses, if the state that you legally reside in is a compact state, and the state that they are going to work in is also part of it, then they do not need an additional license.

How do you find out which state is a Compact state?..I live in NY and go to school in NJ but i'm taking the boards in NY and will like to work there and live in NJ..

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

https://www.ncsbn.org/158.htm

The above address is a link to information regarding the compact states...Unfortuntately, neither NY nor NJ are compact states

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Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.

Darn:uhoh21: I am not licensed in a compact state and don't live in one.:o I don't have any luck:lol2:

Woody:balloons:

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https://www.ncsbn.org/158.htm

The above address is a link to information regarding the compact states...Unfortuntately, neither NY nor NJ are compact states

thanks!

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hmm this is all very intresting. but im soooo glad i wont have to retake my boards again! lol

ill fill out the licensure forms those are alot easier than retaking boards!

lol

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