Licensing question

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in LDRP, Medical, Surgical, Pediatrics.

Does one have to maintain an active license in their original state of licensure (RN) to obtain endorsement in other states. Example: Original state of licensure was Texas in 2009; moved to Alabama after 6 months, have active Alabama license now but am deliquent in Texas (original state of lic); is that okay? I am trying to get licensed in Georgia now but need to know if that is possible with a deliquent Texas license.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

The short answer is , "No." but I'd like to clarify a few points.

You state that your original license is "delinquent." Do you mean that you allowed it to lapse, non-renewed. Or did you take the steps necessary to convert it to "inactive" status?

Generally speaking, Boards of Nursing don't like it when nurses allow licenses to "lapse." They don't know whether that person is retired, has moved, is temporarily not working as a nurse, or simply forgot to renew and is still practicing on an invalid license. Any time you have a license that you don't anticipate using, it is always preferable to notify the BON and officially make it "inactive" rather than just allowing it to lapse.

If your Texas license has lapsed, you will probably have to go thru the steps necessary with the BON to place it in good standing again before they will address your endorsement request. That may involve paying a fine and making a specific request to have your license placed on inactive status.

If you officially made your license "inactive" then you should not have a problem with having information forwarded to the state in which you now desire licensure.

You will still need to contact the Texas BON, let them know that you are endorsing your license to Georgia, find out what they charge for providing that information, and make payment.

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Specializes in Inpatient Oncology/Public Health.

Are these all compact states or not? It seems like it would make more of a difference if they are. I was licensed in Texas in 2007(compact state), moved to NY in 2008(non compact state.) I meant to make my Texas license inactive but missed it before it expired so I guess now it is lapsed. I figured I would just have to provide proof of CEUs to make it active again. I emailed Texas BON at some point about this but they didn't act like it was a big deal it was lapsed. I don't foresee practicing again in Texas so why pay out money at this point?

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