Licensure Question?

chare · Mar 31, 2010

all registered nurses in the united states sit the nclex rn examination for licensure. the nclex rn is a national examination which is used by all states for licensure. once you successfully passed the nclex rn you will not have to retake it again if you desire to become licensed in another state. however you might have additional education requirements in other states, such as the nursing jurisprudence examination required by the texas board of nursing.

when you apply to sit the nclex rn examination you must specify which state board of nursing you want the results sent to for initial licensure. it does not have to be in ohio, you can apply for licensure in any state as long as you have met all that state's educational requirements. when you are ready to apply someone at your school should be able to help you with the application. i would also suggest that if you are planning on applying for initial licensure outside of ohio that you contact the board of nursing in whichever state you are considering as early as possible to ensure that all educational requirements have been met. contact information for all state boards of nursing can be found here: contact a board of nursing.

after you obtain licensure in any state, you can then apply for licensure by endorsement to any other state. you might find that some states have a practice requirement prior to granting licensure by endorsement, so again i would suggest contacting the appropriate state board of nursing. outside of only being allowed to hold one multi state license under the nursing licensure compact act, you can be licensed in as many states as you wish. there is an application fee with each state, and most states require an endorsement from every state in which you have ever been licensed. again, each state typically charges an administrative fee for completing the endorsement.

the nursing licensure compact act works similar to a drivers license. as long as you maintain legal residency in the compact state from which your license was issued, your license should allow you multi state privileges. this means that you would be able to practice nursing in any of the remaining compact states as long as you maintain residency in the state from which the license was issued.

if you relocate from a compact state, the status of that state's license depends on where you relocate to . if you relocate to a non-compact state, then the license remains valid, however it will no longer be a multi-state license, it will only allow you to practice in the state it was issued in.

if you relocate to another compact state you will be allowed to practice on your original multi-state license for 30 days. this will allow you time to apply for licensure in your new state and either be licensed, or have been granted a temporary permit.

i hope this information was helpful. :specs:

lurchgriffith · Apr 22, 2010

from my understanding, any nurse who has passed the nclex is able to work in any state by only paying a license fee. but, in cali, and florida you have to actually re-test in order to work as a nurse in those states. unless you are employed through a traveling nursing company, and in that case they pay a certain fee for their nurses to work in a particular state.

again this is just my understanding from things i have heard and not based on any citable fact.

i will look around and see if i find any sites that may help you.