The Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (Compact) has now been adopted by 26 states, which means the Compact will be taking effect on January 19, 2018. Nurses who seek to practice telemedicine and deliver in-person care across state lines and who meet the Compact’s licensure requirements in these states will have one less obstacle to overcome going forward.

The Compact is an updated version of the original compact allows for registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPN/VNs) to have one multistate license, which will enable them to practice nursing in person or via technology (e.g., videconference) in both their home state, as well as the other Compact states. Development and implementation of the Compact was not an easy feat, given the need for alignment of licensing standards across the Compact states, including federal and state fingerprint-based criminal background checks.

The 26 states participating in the Compact as of today are Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

For more information about the Compact, please visit: https://www.ncsbn.org/11070.htm.