Nursing Compact License Vs Endorsement! New Nurse. Please help

[Noelleee]

Hello! I am a new grad as of this Summer and currently hold a California RN license. I plan to move in February to Texas for an RN job. I have heard that it is harder to get a CA license, so I want to hold on to it and keep it active as I will likely return to practice in CA in the future. I am wondering if I should apply for endorsement from Texas or if I can apply for a compact license at the same time to open up possible future opportunities or do I need to be a resident in Texas for a certain amount of time before applying for a compact license? Can I keep my CA license with either of these options? Do both take around the same amount of time? Tried looking this all up but am a little bit confused! Thanks so much to anyone who may be able to help!

[Noelleee]

Or do I automatically get a compact license by having a Texas license?Also wondering about the difference in fees.

[chare]

Yes, you can keep your CA license for as long as you wish.

For a license issued by a member state of the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) to provide multi-state privileges, you must establish legal residency, as defined by the state.  If you meet these residency requirements when you apply for licensure, then your license should provide multi-state privileges.  If not, when you do meet the residency requirements you should be able to apply for an upgrade.  In order to maintain multi-state privileges you must maintain legal residency in the issuing state.  If you relocate, your license remains active, however it will lose its multi-state privileges and revert to a single state license.

Best wishes.

[Noelleee]

@chare thank you so much for your help! Interesting! So if I moved to Texas and obtained the compact status and then moved back to CA I would have to then obtain a single license again in a compact state to gain the compact status again?

[chare]

The Nursing License Compact (NLC) works somewhat like your driver's license.  As long as you maintain legal residency in an NLC state, your license should provide multi-state privileges.  As long as you maintain residency in that state, your license with multi-state privileges allows you to practice in any other NLC member state.  If you subsequently relocate to another state, what happens to this license depends on where you locate to.

If you relocate to another NLC state, and establish residency, you should apply for licensure in your new state as soon as you can.  You will be allowed to work on your previous NLC multi-state license while your application is being processed.  When your new license becomes active, your previous multi-state license will be placed on inactive status as you can only be licensed in one NLC member state if your license grants multi-state privileges.

If you relocate to a non NLC member state, in your example back to CA, your TX license would become a single state license only.  In this case, if you wanted to take a position in an NLC state other than TX, you would have to apply for licensure in that state.  If you apply for licensure, without establishing residency, and are granted a single-state license, your TX license remains active as a single state license.  

[Noelleee]

@chare Very very helpful, that makes a lot of sense. So if someone were to become a travel nurse who was based in CA with a CA license they would just have to gain endorsements for different places when they traveled outside of CA for shorter assignments? I figured that would take some time to do per each state. Thanks again btw I really really appreciate all of your help. 

[NedRN]

When I started traveling, all licenses had to be applied for in each state (licensure by reciprocity, not "endorsement"). Some states were (and still are) "walk-through" states meaning you could get at least a temporary license the same day. Yes, some work, but still worth it today to get licenses in non-compact states as they tend to pay better. Like California. They tend to be union heavy states, like the west coast, east coast, and parts of the midwest and mid Atlantic. Usually pending compact status is contested by nursing unions as such status tends to bring pay down so of course hospitals are heavy supporters.

Despite having to get a license in each state, those were the "good old days" for travelers as it was actually easier to move around. No drug tests, background checks, very little in the way of things like med tests, and no vendor management companies doing doing crazy amounts of due diligence. No doubt that some bad travelers have more difficulty getting contracts today, but increases the pain and cost of doing business far more than it is worth.

 

[Noelleee]

@chare @NedRN do either of you know anything about the nursing jurisprudence exam that you have to take also for licensure in some states? Wondering if it’s something that should be studied for.

Thank you both so much for your help!

[NedRN]

Every one I've taken has been a mandatory CEU so comes with content to read before (or during) the open book test. So no, don't study!