Want 2 Licences

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jan 31, 2011

You will need to obtain a Florida license if you wish to work in Florida. You will need to obtain a Wisconsin license if you wish to work in Wisconsin. You can have two nursing licenses at the same time as long as you pay the appropriate fees and attain the number of CEUs that each state BON requires.

I would personally obtain the Wisconsin license (since that's where you plan to attend school) and then endorse it into Florida. When you endorse your Wisconsin license into Florida, it will be through a process called licensure by endorsement.

KrysyRN, BSN · Feb 1, 2011

If you plan to work in Florida as soon as you finish school, I would recommend taking Florida state boards. You can take the Florida or Wisconsin boards at any NCLEX testing site in any state. When you are given the NCLEX application paperwork during your last semester of school, just check off Florida (or any state from which you wish to obtain your first license). You can't check off more than one state.

To apply for licensure in other states another state, you will want to go to that state's Board of Nursing site and download their "Licensure through endorsement" forms. There is usually a bunch of paperwork, fingerprinting, letter from your school, transcripts, Nursys info, etc., that you have to submit to that other state board of nursing. It's a pain in the behind, but no getting around it. It can take anywhere from 2-3 weeks to approx 6 weeks to obtain a license from another state through endorsement. Be prepared to pay lots of fees for the additional license (fingerprint costs, Nursys fees, transcript fees, application fees, certified mail fees....and probably a few other fees I'm forgetting.)

Regarding compact state licensure, it's a great thing, but I've found that I still need to apply for a license in any of the compact states that I want to practice in. Right now I have licenses in 6 states, and 5 are compact states. You would think I only needed 2 licenses (1 from the non-compact state and 1 from the compact state)...but no...I still had to apply for licensure from each state's board....whether compact or not.

Hope this helps! :-)

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Feb 1, 2011

Regarding compact state licensure, it's a great thing, but I've found that I still need to apply for a license in any of the compact states that I want to practice in. Right now I have licenses in 6 states, and 5 are compact states. You would think I only needed 2 licenses (1 from the non-compact state and 1 from the compact state)...but no...I still had to apply for licensure from each state's board....whether compact or not.
Hope this helps! :-)

Bummer! I'm assuming you still have to pay for licensure fees regarding compact states? I've always wondered how that works...I currently live in Ohio, but I am moving to Texas (my husband is active duty Army), which is a compact state. I know with the Army we're going to moving around at least every 3 years or so, and I thought being licensed in a compact state would be a good thing! I'm opting out of an Ohio license for now because honestly I don't see myself returning here. The only military instillation that is really here is Wright-Patterson AFB and Camp Perry and we wouldn't go to either of them.

elkpark · Feb 1, 2011

There is always a lot of confusion about how the NLC (Nurse Licensure Compact) works. The easiest way to understand it is that it works exactly the same as our driver's licenses. Everyone here understands perfectly well that you can drive as far as you like, for as long as you like, anywhere in the US on your current driver's license, but, if you move to another state, you have 30 days (or whatever the state law says) to apply for a new license in your new "home" state. The only reason we're able drive cross-country without having to stop at each state line to apply for a new license is because, many years ago, at the dawn of the Automobile Age, all the states got together and signed a compact (an actual physical document, like a treaty but between states in the same country, rather than between different nations) agreeing to recognize each other's driver's licenses temporarily for travel purposes.

The NLC is exactly the same thing, except that not all states have chosen to sign (join) the compact (only about half the states are currently members). If you are a permanent resident of a "compact state," you can use your home state license to work in any other compact state for as long as you want, as long as you maintain your permanent residence in your home state. If you apply for licensure in a compact state but are not a permanent resident of that state, you will still get a license, but it will be a regular, traditional license that doesn't have "compact privileges" and is only good in that state. If you live in a compact state and have a compact license, and move, one of two things will happen. If you move to a non-compact state, you will keep your "old" license, but it will lose its "compact privileges" and will become a regular, traditional license that is only good in that state. If you move to another compact state, you will have 30 days to apply for a license in your new state, because one of the rules of the compact is that you can only hold one compact license at a time, in your home state. After 30 days, your previous license simply becomes invalid.

I know it seems v. confusing, but, if you think of it in terms of your driver's license, that makes it a lot easier to understand. There's a lot of talk about the NLC, but it mostly matters to two groups of nurses -- a) travel nurses, and b) nurses who happen to live close enough to the border of two compact states to be able to commute to work in the other state (e.g., I happen to live on the border of my state, and work in the nearest city in the next state, which is also a compact state, on my home state license). For the majority of US nurses, the NLC has no impact at all.

KrysyRN, I'm curious about how you have 5 compact state licenses? Do you really mean that you currently have active licenses in 5 compact states, or that you've had that many licenses over time? The NCSBN "model rules" for the NLC specify that that's not possible, and, although I'm sure some states have adopted rules that weren't quite verbatim copies of the NCSBN recommended version, I'd not heard that any states have made that dramatic a change from the rest of the system.

From https://www.ncsbn.org/358.htm:

"f. A nurse changing primary state of residence, from one party state to another party state, may continue to practice under the former home state license and multi-state licensure privilege during the processing of the nurse's licensure application in the new home state for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days. (Statutory basis: Articles 4B, 4C, and 4D[1]) ...

h. The former home state license shall no longer be valid upon the issuance of a new home state license. (Statutory basis: Article 4D[1]) ..."

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Feb 2, 2011

There is always a lot of confusion about how the NLC (Nurse Licensure Compact) works. The easiest way to understand it is that it works exactly the same as our driver's licenses. Everyone here understands perfectly well that you can drive as far as you like, for as long as you like, anywhere in the US on your current driver's license, but, if you move to another state, you have 30 days (or whatever the state law says) to apply for a new license in your new "home" state. The only reason we're able drive cross-country without having to stop at each state line to apply for a new license is because, many years ago, at the dawn of the Automobile Age, all the states got together and signed a compact (an actual physical document, like a treaty but between states in the same country, rather than between different nations) agreeing to recognize each other's driver's licenses temporarily for travel purposes.
The NLC is exactly the same thing, except that not all states have chosen to sign (join) the compact (only about half the states are currently members). If you are a permanent resident of a "compact state," you can use your home state license to work in any other compact state for as long as you want, as long as you maintain your permanent residence in your home state. If you apply for licensure in a compact state but are not a permanent resident of that state, you will still get a license, but it will be a regular, traditional license that doesn't have "compact privileges" and is only good in that state. If you live in a compact state and have a compact license, and move, one of two things will happen. If you move to a non-compact state, you will keep your "old" license, but it will lose its "compact privileges" and will become a regular, traditional license that is only good in that state. If you move to another compact state, you will have 30 days to apply for a license in your new state, because one of the rules of the compact is that you can only hold one compact license at a time, in your home state. After 30 days, your previous license simply becomes invalid.
I know it seems v. confusing, but, if you think of it in terms of your driver's license, that makes it a lot easier to understand. There's a lot of talk about the NLC, but it mostly matters to two groups of nurses -- a) travel nurses, and b) nurses who happen to live close enough to the border of two compact states to be able to commute to work in the other state (e.g., I happen to live on the border of my state, and work in the nearest city in the next state, which is also a compact state, on my home state license). For the majority of US nurses, the NLC has no impact at all. .
From https://www.ncsbn.org/358.htm:
"f. A nurse changing primary state of residence, from one party state to another party state, may continue to practice under the former home state license and multi-state licensure privilege during the processing of the nurse's licensure application in the new home state for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days. (Statutory basis: Articles 4B, 4C, and 4D[1]) ...
h. The former home state license shall no longer be valid upon the issuance of a new home state license. (Statutory basis: Article 4D[1]) ..."

Thank you elkpark for your reply! I'm still a little confused though...As I mentioned before, I currently live in Ohio, but we're moving to Texas in May. I am opting out of an Ohio license and I'm just applying for a license in Texas (for now). When I submitted my application for licensure to the TXBON, they were asking about my permanent residence. I contacted the board, and they said I should put whatever state I am living in at the time - so I put Ohio; however, I am not permanently living here because I am moving in a few months! So does that void me of NLC privileges?

So then another question...if that voids me of NLC privileges and then I have to submit a new application to another state...let's say Missouri, which is a compact state, like Texas. I'm sure that application will ask me what my permanent residence is, so in that case it would be Texas. So then would I get "compact privileges"?

I would really like to not have to submit an application and pay fees every time we PCS to another duty station. There are at least 4 other states (other than TX) that we would probably move to because of military instillations (AZ, CO, MO & NC) and having compact privileges would make things so much easier for me!

elkpark · Feb 2, 2011

Thank you elkpark for your reply! I'm still a little confused though...As I mentioned before I currently live in Ohio, but we're moving to Texas in May. I am opting out of an Ohio license and I'm just applying for a license in Texas (for now). When I submitted my application for licensure to the TXBON, they were asking about my permanent residence. I contacted the board, and they said I should put whatever state I am living in at the time - so I put Ohio; however, I am not [i']permanently[/i] living here because I am moving in a few months! So does that void me of NLC privileges?
So then another question...if that voids me of NLC privileges and then I have to submit a new application to another state...let's say Missouri, which is a compact state, like Texas. I'm sure that application will ask me what my permanent residence is, so in that case it would be Texas. So then would I get "compact privileges"?
I would really like to not have to submit an application and pay fees every time we PCS to another duty station. There are at least 4 other states (other than TX) that we would probably move to because of military instillations (AZ, CO, MO & NC) and having compact privileges would make things so much easier for me!

Unless you maintain a permanent residence somewhere else, you are currently living "permanently" in OH until you move. :) Even though you're planning to move, you are a resident of OH until you live somehwere else. You certainly aren't a resident of TX yet, are you? You can't get a "compact license" from TX unless (until) you're a resident of TX.

If you're moving (in the future) from one compact state to another, like your example of TX to MO, you can apply for licensure in MO once you're there and be able to work in MO with your TX license for up to 30 days, while your licensure application is being processed. Once your MO license is issued, your TX license automatically becomes invalid (at least that's been my understanding all these years -- KrysyRN seems to have somehow had a different experience? I know that the rules in my state are as I have described.).

I'm sure you're aware that you can work in a Federal facility/organization, like military hospitals and VA hospitals, with a valid RN license from any US state, not necessarily the state in which you're physically located -- so you always have that option with any state license (and don't military spouses get hiring preference in those facilities? Not sure about that). However, if you want to be able to work in any local healthcare facility as you and your husband move around the country, you will have to apply for licensure in each state in which you reside -- unless you maintain a permanent home (maintain a permanent address, driver's license, voter registration, and pay taxes, etc.) in a compact state, in which case you can use your license with "compact privileges" from that state to work in any other compact state for as long as you want.

As I said in the first place, there is a lot of confusion about the NLC. An awful lot of nurses, esp. newer nurses but even "old pros," seem to think it's equivalent to a form of national (or, at least, "semi-national," since it doesn't apply to all states) licensure, but that's not at all the case. The driver's license analogy is the most useful way to explain it that I've found.

Hope that's helpful, and not just more confusing! Best wishes --