RN Program Restrictions Regarding NCLEX Registration

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hello all,

I am almost done with my nursing program and they recently told us we will not be allowed to register for the NCLEX for another State although many of us live outside the state in which the program was offered.

I currently live in Texas and attend a out of state nursing program. The program is telling us that they will not allow us to register for the NCLEX for the state in which we reside. Is this possible for them to put on such restrictions?? I have 2 more courses left to take then headed for my Hesi exit exam, Please anyone with any advise?

Based on what OP is saying they are at Capscare guaranteed.

Edit- Actually after doing some research it could be one of a hundred or more different for profit unaccredited schools in Florida. They let for profit fly by night nursing schools run rampant here.

According to national reports only Hawaii has more a worse NCLEX passage rate due to students coming out of unaccredited schools.

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Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.
Based on what OP is saying they are at Capscare guaranteed.

OP, if this is the case and your program is not accredited (please understand that "approved" does not mean "accredited") than another state's BON will likely not accept your education as sufficient to grant you licensure. You can try obtaining your Florida license and then applying to other state via endorsement. But with an unaccredited program, that route could be problematic as well.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.
OP, if this is the case and your program is not accredited (please understand that "approved" does not mean "accredited") than another state's BON will likely not accept your education as sufficient to grant you licensure. You can try obtaining your Florida license and then applying to other state via endorsement. But with an unaccredited program, that route could be problematic as well.

This was going to be my suggestion as well. I don't believe your school has the ability to legally restrict where you apply for to sit the NCLEX. It is up to the state's BON to approve your request to test, not your school. If the school is placing restrictions on where you can apply to test it's most likely because they know the application to test will not be accepted by another states BON.

Depending on your home states license application process it may be possible to test for Florida and then apply for a license in your home state based on the fact that you are currently licensed in another state. This is called licensing by endorsement. Like everything else licensing related every state has their own rules and regulations so this might be an easy process or it might be impossible depending on what state you eventually want to be licensed in.

My advice is to first look at the Texas BON website to find out their process for this to see if it's an option for you to consider. If it's not an option and you were not notified clearly and in writing before starting the program that you would only be able to test for Florida then yes, I would certainly recommend looking into hiring a lawyer. Now I am not giving legal advice here as that's against TOS but simply offering what I consider common sense advice.

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Thank you this was very useful, I will call Texas BON and ask hopefully they change their minds once im closer to finishing my class and pass the HESI. If not I will definitely follow through with your advices.

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

Good news....Florida appears to be a compact state, as is Texas. So your check in with the BON in Texas got a little easier.

Updated Map: Enhanced Nursing Licensure Compact (eNLC) Jan. 2

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.
Good news....Florida appears to be a compact state, as is Texas. So your check in with the BON in Texas got a little easier.

Updated Map: Enhanced Nursing Licensure Compact (eNLC) Jan. 218 | Nurse.org

The problem with that is the primary license must be held in the state of residence. In OP's case compact state or not if he lives in Texas he'll have to be licensed in Texas. The compact license is wonderful for travel nurses, call center nurses that must hold licenses in multiple states and nurses that live close to state lines that are both compact states if they want to work in both states.

There's a lot more of this if you are interested in reading the entire Nurse License compact, but here is the most pertinent part detailing home state requirements.

Any nurse holding a home state multistate license, on the effective date of this Compact, may retain

and renew the multistate license issued by the nurse's then-current home state, provided that:

1. A nurse, who changes primary state of residence after this Compact's effective date, must meet

all applicable Article III.c. requirements to obtain a multistate license from a new home state.

2. A nurse who fails to satisfy the multistate licensure requirements in Article III.c. due to a

disqualifying event occurring after this Compact's effective date shall be ineligible to retain or

renew a multistate license, and the nurse's multistate license shall be revoked or deactivated in

accordance with applicable rules adopted by the Interstate Commission of Nurse Licensure

Compact Administrators ("Commission").

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Thank you this was very useful, I will call Texas BON and ask hopefully they change their minds once im closer to finishing my class and pass the HESI. If not I will definitely follow through with your advices.

I have also found the Texas BON to be very responsive to email queries.

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