OK to let nursing license expire if you have one in 2 states?

[morte, LPN, LVN]

It has been suggested that you keep your original license., even if that is put on inactive status..

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

I have a license to practice in two states but am only working in one. Is there any reason to renew my license in the other state if I don't have any intention of working there anytime soon?

No. I had three licenses at one point and let one lapse. I am currently only using one of the two, but will still the the unused one active as it is a compact license.

[wish_me_luck, BSN, RN]

I would call that state Board first. See what the process would be if you did want it again.

[Shuggypie, ASN, BSN, RN]

I have a license in two states, the state I currently live in, and the state my mother and adult children reside in. If I ever have to go "home" to take care of Mom or the adult children/grandchildren, I could get a job. That is the only reason I keep the other license active. If you know you won't be going back to the other state I think I would put it in "inactive" status, instead of letting it expire.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

It doesn't cost you much and you never know when you might want it. Inactive is fine. I have licenses in like 8 states (alas, I do not live in a Compact state so I had to buy them all a la carte ), and I do keep them up.

[dreamingofbeing]

I have 2, one in the state I live in and one in the state I work in. I went through hell to get the one from the state I live in so I refuse to just let it lapse. I did put it in inactive status the last renewal since I just couldn't see spending money on a license I don't use and I didn't do the CEU's required by the state anyway.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

If you are not planning to work in a state for the foreseeable future (I leave it up to you to define how long "foreseeable" is), then there's nothing wrong with putting a license on inactive status or letting it expire. You can always reactivate/re-endorse in when you need to.

Mind you, it may be easier to reactivate an inactive license than to re-endorse, especially in states with stricter BONs like CA which like to make endorsement an ordeal in itself. On the other hand, it may be more cost-effective to re-endorse when you are ready than to pay (through renewal fees and CEU costs) to maintain an inactive license for several years. Only you can decide which plan is the best for your circumstances.

[MommyandRN]

I have two. Instead of letting my other one expire I did make it inactive. I would suggest you do that. However, now I am looking for a job in that state. I looked into the process to make it active again, and it's not as easy as I thought. It's alot of paperwork, fingerprinting, signatures, etc. I am thinking I should have just kept it active in case I needed it.

[Ted D]

No. I had three licenses at one point and let one lapse. I am currently only using one of the two, but will still the the unused one active as it is a compact license.

The one I'd let lapse is not a compact state... I just don't see any reason to keep it active.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

At the time I moved to Texas from Tennessee, TN did not offer inactive status. You either had an active license or you did not. So I let mine lapse in TN as I knew I would not need it.