"Reciprocity"??? Ya, sure

Kyrshamarks, BSN, RN · Dec 22, 2007

Thats why it is important to contact your state legislature and demand that they join the nurse compact . That way your license would be good kinthose states without jumping through all the hoops again.

morte, LPN, LVN · Dec 22, 2007

Greetings and Happy Holidays to allnurses.comers. Just a FYI on applying to another state for license "reciprocity." I don't know why it's called "reciprocal" because, as I have just discovered, you have to jump through the same hoops all over again - collecting transcripts, paying the fees, all the forms, etc. Silly me, I thought "reciprocity" meant that the fifty states all agreed to honor licenses granted in another state. In fact, the process begins from scratch. If you need to do this, give yourself a lot of time! It took the NY BON three months to give me the ATT number to take the nclex. Fortunately, one thing you don't have to do is take the exam again! Bureaucracy never ceases to amaze me.

i believe that the term reciprocity only means that you dont have to take the test over, and that there is a uniform passing score......good luck

meandragonbrett · Dec 22, 2007

I think you might be getting compact and reciprocity mixed up?

Editorial Team / Admin · Dec 22, 2007

All states have reciprocity. That means, once one takes and passes NCLEX, the other states recognize that exam as it is a nationalized standardized exam. Never to be taken again if you go to another state.

The word you are looking for is endorsement. Once you are licensed in one state and you wish to go to another state to work, you must endorse to that state. You must meet their requirements for licensure. Has nothing to do with the the reciprocal NCLEX exam.

Katnip, RN · Dec 22, 2007

You're thinking of Compact states. Not all states have agreed to the Compact where if you live in one state you can work in another state on your original license. For example, I live in Maryland, but can work in Virginia on my Maryland license, but not vice verse. I can also work in Arizona or Iowa and other states if I were a traveler but kept a home in Maryland or any other Compact state.

You still need to hold a license in the state you live in. If I moved to Virginia and wanted to work there, I would need to get a Virginia license.

For non compact states, you need to hold a license to work there even if you live just across the border.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 22, 2007

It is maddening isn't it.

At least you only have to take NCLEX once. :)

suzanne4, RN · Dec 22, 2007

To clarify a few things, the NCLEX exams only have reciprocity. Licenses do not, you must meet the requirements of the new state to be able to get a License by Endorsement there.

If you notice, you will not see an application for reciprocity, that no longer exists and stopped existing when each state did away with their own licensing exam and went to using the NCLEX exam. The recprocity meant that the exam passing could be used by certain states, and again it was not all states, it depended on your numerical score.

To endorse to most states, you will still need to have your school of nursing send transcripts to the new state; most still want to see those.

And be aware that not all of these new programs that are out there and are not the norm are accepted in all states.

In most cases to endorse, you just need to submit the application and payment and have your old statre send in verification that you have passed.

In answer to one of the other posters at the top of this thread, even if more states go under the Compact License Pact, that fails to exist when the nurse moves her legal residence, only the actual license for that one state remains valid until you go thru the licensing process for the new state.

Diahni · Dec 23, 2007

To clarify a few things, the NCLEX exams only have reciprocity. Licenses do not, you must meet the requirements of the new state to be able to get a License by Endorsement there.
If you notice, you will not see an application for reciprocity, that no longer exists and stopped existing when each state did away with their own licensing exam and went to using the NCLEX exam. The recprocity meant that the exam passing could be used by certain states, and again it was not all states, it depended on your numerical score.
To endorse to most states, you will still need to have your school of nursing send transcripts to the new state; most still want to see those.
And be aware that not all of these new programs that are out there and are not the norm are accepted in all states.
In most cases to endorse, you just need to submit the application and payment and have your old statre send in verification that you have passed.
In answer to one of the other posters at the top of this thread, even if more states go under the Compact License Pact, that fails to exist when the nurse moves her legal residence, only the actual license for that one state remains valid until you go thru the licensing process for the new state.

Hi Suzanne - I always thought it was a little strange that on one hand, you prove your competency by passing a national exam, then get licensed by the state. Why should this be so? If states are so interested in controlling issues related to health care, where are all the state run single payer health programs? To date, my state, Mass., is the only one so far, and there's so many problems. To my mind, the worst thing is you have to have an extremely low income to belong, which is why there are so many seemingly middle class people who can't afford insurance. I know lots of people in this boat. But back to the license issue - what's wrong with a nationally accepted license? I am sure this is an extremely political issue, but I have no idea what the issues are. After all, wouldn't you want to know that your nurse is able to practice in all states? If she can't, why not? Okay, here's an issue - if you were licensed to practice in all states, it would cost you about 10,000 bucks assuming it costs about 200 per state. Do you know any good resources to find out more about how this works? I was reading some document online about the differences between the scope of practice of nurse practitioners by state and saw that one of the parameters of what makes an attractive state to work in was how much political opposition NPs get from the AMA. How predictable!

Diahni

Diahni · Dec 23, 2007

Thats why it is important to contact your state legislature and demand that they join the nurse compact . That way your license would be good kinthose states without jumping through all the hoops again.

Kyshamarks - you have a link about this?

woody62, RN · Dec 23, 2007

All states have reciprocity. That means, once one takes and passes NCLEX, the other states recognize that exam as it is a nationalized standardized exam. Never to be taken again if you go to another state.
The word you are looking for is endorsement. Once you are licensed in one state and you wish to go to another state to work, you must endorse to that state. You must meet their requirements for licensure. Has nothing to do with the the reciprocal NCLEX exam.

Perhpas you can explain something to me. I took the two day state board, in New York State, in 1971. And passed, the lowest score being 776. In 1980 I moved to Florida. And I received my Florida license after submitting my state board scores. I held an active license until 1990, when I allowed it to laspe, as I was recoverying from severe injures suffered in January 1989. I reactivated my Florida license in 1996 and took the necessary CEUs. In 2000 I moved back to New York and allowed my Florida license to laspe. In 2003 I came back to Florida. And inquired about reactivating my license. I was told I would have to resubmit my New York State board scores, pay $204, undergo a criminal background check, and wait. I was also told that my Florida license had been revoked because I had allowed it to laspe. Nice play on words. It sounds like I did something wrong and my license was revoked by the BON, which it was not.

Tell me, why do I have to resubmit my old state board scores, which should be part of my file in Jacksonville? Why can't I just reactivate my Florida license? I have an idea of why. If I just reactivate my license, Florida makes a great deal less money by just reactivating my license. And here in Florida, someone has to pay for everything, I guess it is my turn.

Woody:balloons:

Diahni · Dec 23, 2007

Thats why it is important to contact your state legislature and demand that they join the nurse compact . That way your license would be good kinthose states without jumping through all the hoops again.

(More) Oh my, am I ever getting an education about this subject - It looks like 22 states are on board with the nursing license compact. I am disappointed that neither NY or Massachusetts are included. Are there any allnurses.com members who have been active in passing legislation in their states? Well, looks like I'm going to be writing some letters to my favorite senators. If anybody is currently active in this, please pm me.

I wonder what else I could be doing to make sure Massachusetts in particular gets with the program. We're such a mobile society, it makes no sense to put nurses through such bureaucratic hassles just to work in a different state. Though obtaining a state license is not the same thing as passing the NCLEX, a national exam ought to qualify a person to be nationally employable.

Diahni