Licensure by endorsement or go to Florida to test?

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Hello!

I am about to graduate in 2 weeks and have to decide if I want to take the NCLEX here in Pennsylvania where I currently live, or fly down to florida to take it (which is where i'm moving to and planning on working starting in August of this year).

I guess my question is: if I take the NCLEX in PA, how long will the process take to transfer my license to Florida (by endorsement)? I know state things can be slow, but I wasn't sure if anyone else went through this process immediately after obtaining their license or had suggestions? If I take the NCELX sometime in June, would I even have time to transfer it by August?

I'm not really leaning one way more than the other. Both have pros and cons based on my personal life right now. I really am open to suggestions and hearing what has worked for you! Thanks

I don't fault the students for not knowing this. However, it is inexcusable that the schools either don't know or are unable or unwilling to help those that desire licensure in other states.

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Specializes in Pedi.
You'll have to take an 85 hour NCLEX prep course for a Florida license.

What is your source on this? I just read the requirements on the FL BoN's website, posted by chare, and it says nothing of the sort. There would be no reason for any BoN to require an applicant for licensure by examination to take any sort of prep course on their first attempt at NCLEX.

The closest thing that it says to your claim is that "After three failures of the same level of examination (RN, LPN), regardless of jurisdiction, the applicant must successfully complete a Florida Board of Nursing approved remedial training program. The program includes classroom and clinical components and proof of completion must be submitted at the time of application for the fourth attempt."

OP has not had 3 failed attempts at NCLEX, therefore there's no reason to assume that she will have to complete a remedial training program. She is simply asking how to obtain an initial license by exam in the state of Florida.

OP, others have given you good advice. There is no need to get a license in PA and endorse to FL. You can physically take NCLEX wherever you please. You can graduate from nursing school in PA and take NCLEX in NY, NJ, DE, WV or MD if you find closer sites/sooner dates for licensure in FL.

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I don't fault the students for not knowing this. However, it is inexcusable that the schools either don't know or are unable or unwilling to help those that desire licensure in other states.

To be fair, the OP says that she asked her "advisor." In a lot of nursing programs (most? all?), the academic advisors are not nurses -- they advise students on academic matters like how many credits are needed to graduate, which general ed courses will meet the requirements for graduation, that kind of thing, but they don't know much about how nursing works once you get out of school. Sort of like expecting your HR person at work to understand all the details of nursing licensure -- they get that the nurses have to have licenses to be able to work, but it's mostly a blur beyond that point ... I wonder it that might be what happened with the OP.

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To be fair, the OP says that she asked her "advisor." In a lot of nursing programs (most? all?), the academic advisors are not nurses -- they advise students on academic matters...

As I have had an advisor within the school of nursing at every program i have attended, i assumed thisbwas what the OP referred to her "advisor." If this is not the case, and her nursing program refers students to the colleges academic advisors on issues related to the NCLEX application and initial licensure, then shame on them, as they are doing their students a great disservice.

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Specializes in IMCU.

I strongly encourage you to read the Florida requirements carefully yourself including any and all of the instruction documents. I licensed directly into another state and it was very simple because the state did not have a current residency requirement. Some states require that you be physically present prior to applying. I would hate to see you send in your application to Florida and have them reject it purely for that reason or some minor thing that might have been avoided.

Feel free to call or email the Florida BON too. I have always found BON extremely helpful and they give very precise instructions in these matters.

I wish you the very best of luck in Florida and in your future as a nurse!

DV

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...some states require that you be physically present prior to applying...

[...]

And which states are these?

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Specializes in LTC Management, Community Nursing, HHC.
..... I'm not really leaning one way more than the other. Both have pros and cons based on my personal life right now. I really am open to suggestions and hearing what has worked for you! Thanks

CNSRN, while I can't comment specifically on whether you should take the NCLEX in PA and endorse to FL, I can share my story with you. I graduated from RN school in Colorado, and moved to California and took the NCLEX in CA (you can take the NCLEX anywhere in the US no matter which state you graduated from but you will receive the license of the state you graduated from, not the state you tested in).

I then applied for endorsement to California, and long story short, they took forever to approve my license because they are so back-logged with approvals. One other issue that came up was that they wanted me to take another class which Colorado didn't require, actually a lab, but that meant retaking the whole class.

All in all, it took me about a year to become licensed in California from the time I graduated, but keep in mind that no other state is as bad as CA when it comes to the time it takes to get an endorsement application approved.

In hindsight I realize that I should have taken the NCLEX in Colorado, then applied for endorsement to California while I working as an RN in Colorado. I lost a whole year waiting for an RN license in California, although thankfully I was able to do other stuff, including return to school for my BSN, which I may not have done so quickly otherwise.

All the best with your decisions!

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...(you can take the NCLEX anywhere in the US no matter which state you graduated from but you will receive the license of the state you graduated from, not the state you tested in).

[...]

Not true. You will be licensed in the state in which you applied for licensure.

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Specializes in LTC Management, Community Nursing, HHC.
Not true. You will be licensed in the state in which you applied for licensure.

Sorry but you're wrong and I stand by my comment above. I know that I'm 100% correct. Check the NCSBN website. You can take your NCLEX exam ANYWHERE in the US, and even in some other countries in the world that offer the NCLEX exam, but your license is still only in the state where you graduated, unless you later apply for endorsement. Plus, I've been though it (as I explained in my post above).

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Sorry but you're wrong and I stand by my comment above. I know that I'm 100% correct. Check the NCSBN website. You can take your NCLEX exam ANYWHERE in the US, and even in some other countries in the world that offer the NCLEX exam, but your license is still only in the state where you graduated, unless you later apply for endorsement. Plus, I've been though it (as I explained in my post above).

Please post a link to where the NCSBN website says this. What you are describing would be a dramatic change in how nursing licensure has worked for many, many years. It's hard for me to believe that such a significant change could have occurred without my (and many others here) hearing about it.

Thanks.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Sorry but you're wrong and I stand by my comment above. I know that I'm 100% correct. Check the NCSBN website. You can take your NCLEX exam ANYWHERE in the US, and even in some other countries in the world that offer the NCLEX exam, but your license is still only in the state where you graduated, unless you later apply for endorsement. Plus, I've been though it (as I explained in my post above).

Not true. My school was close to the border of my state and the state to the south. Many graduates applied directly to the state to the south for licensure. There is absolutely zero requirement to become licensed in the state in which you graduate. Many schools will automatically send transcripts/required documents to the state where the school is, but that does not mean one is required to be licensed in that state.

Also, if you're going to make a claim, it is up to you to provide the link with supporting evidence, not for another to go search a vast website.

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Sorry but you're wrong and I stand by my comment above. I know that I'm 100% correct. Check the NCSBN website. You can take your NCLEX exam ANYWHERE in the US, and even in some other countries in the world that offer the NCLEX exam, but your license is still only in the state where you graduated, unless you later apply for endorsement. Plus, I've been though it (as I explained in my post above).

I graduated from a school in Ohio, and applied for and received my initial licensure in West Virginia.

A review of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Application & Registration page revealed the following, under the Two-Step Registration Process for the NCLEX section:

1. Submit an application for licensure/registration to the board of nursing/regulatory body (BON/RB) where you wish to be licensed/registered. This is in order to be made eligible to take the NCLEX*.

I have searched the NCSBN website. The only residency requirements regarding licensure I have been able to locate regards licensure in a member state of Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC). First, to hold a multi-state license issued by a NLC state, you must be a resident of that state. Second, if you are a resident of one member state of the NLC, you can not apply for licensure in another NLC.

As I believe it important that we provide completely accurate information to those whom we counsel, perhaps you could post the link to your source? If you do so, and I am incorrect, I will gladly retract my statement.

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