Obtaining licenses in other states

suzanne4, RN · Sep 19, 2004

Just wondering how easy/hard it is for the traveling nurse to obtain a license in the state to which he or she wishes to travel. I will be getting a KY license but will want to travel out West (CA and CO mainly). What is the process? Thanks!

California is actually a walk through state, meaning that you can take your documents in hnad to the BON office in Sacremento and get your license right away to practice. Depends on the state on whether they have walk thru or not. Otherwise at the most a few weeks. You just apply for endorsement to the state where you want to get a license in. Quite simple and just pay a fee.

Dixielee, BSN, RN · Sep 19, 2004

Depending on your primary state of residency, you may be a member of a compact state that recognizes licensure from other states. There are a lot of walk thru states, but if you are like most of us, you prefer to do things by mail. Most states if not all will do a criminal background check. You can go online to the board of nursing of the state/states you are looking at to find out their requirements. My home state is a member of a compact state, but I still have licences from 4 non compact states. It can get expensive, but most travel companies pay for licencing in your new state if you are taking a contract with them.

This won't help you in Ky., but it may help someone reading this thread. It is a current list of compact states.

http://www.ncsbn.org/nlc/rnlpvncompact_mutual_recognition_state.asp

Roozeyk · Sep 21, 2004

Is California a walk through state for both RN & LVN? When I called the California SBON a few months ago, the person I talked to acted like I had insulted her by even asking such a question, she told me no...that all the paperwork had to be done as directed and it would take up to 8-12 weeks for licensure, and not to expect anything any sooner!

so, I was just wondering about that?