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Discussion

RN licensure in CA

I'm still in school and will be graduating this summer. I'm planning on moving back to California to pursue my first nursing job. I'm in the state of Maryland at the moment and would like some advice about when and where to take the NCLEX. I've heard CA doesn't participate in early results. Would it be a better idea to stay in MD, take the exam and apply for reciprocity once back in CA?

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  • Experts

You would be applying for endorsement, not reciprocity. And best advice is to get your license where you are, then endorse. You can get a temporary license at the BON in Sacramento as soon as you arrive.

You would be applying for endorsement, not reciprocity. And best advice is to get your license where you are, then endorse. You can get a temporary license at the BON in Sacramento as soon as you arrive.

I'm taking courses to recieve my RN and BSN in North Carolina, but I plan on moving to California after I graduate. So I'm guessing that I should take the same advice. But since I haven't been exposed to everything yet, what is endorsement and reciprocity?

  • Experts

The actual NCLEX exam, if you pass it, has reciprocity in all states, meaning that the score for it can be used to meet the requirements for the exam in all states. It never has to be retaken again, unless you let your license lapse for years, or something similar.

But each state is free to set its own curriculum requirements, so not all licenses will transfer to all states automatically. Once you do get one license, you can apply for endorsement to the new state. You will still keep the license in the original state, unless you let it expire.

Back in the "old" days before the NCLEX exam came into existence, each state had their own exam, and training was pretty much the same all over the US. None of the non-traditional programs existed. When you took your "state Board" back then, you got an actual numerical score, and depending on the state, as well as what you score was, you could get reciprocity in all fifty states, if your score was high enough and your state's exam was accepted by all of the others. You could have been required to retake an exam for another state, if that state required you to.

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