Endorsement & the Nurse Licensure Compact

Melanie Shomshor, RN, BSN
Jun 10, 2017
3 min read

"I am PCSing to another state and I need a nursing license. What do I do now?" This is the question that brought you to The Gouge and the Military Spouse Nurses Facebook group. When faced with this problem I didn't feel like I had anyone to turn to for help on what to do. I knew a lot of military spouses but none that had to deal with licensure or any that were nurses. The advice I eventually got from a non-military affiliated friend was to go to the new state's Board of Nursing website and follow the directions for endorsement. Long story short, it really is that simple. However, I did have some lingering questions. I hope to provide the answers for those questions for you today (maybe you have them too?!) and fill in the details of endorsement.

As with most things, everything is different by state so my explanation will be generalized. There are three major steps to achieving endorsement: the application, fingerprinting, and the background check. These are also your three big cost items. The cost for endorsement is usually $300-$500 and can take anywhere from a week and a half to 9 months. If you are thinking this is a bit of an injustice for someone in our unique situation you'd be right! Luckily, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has introduced a bill that would reimburse military spouses up to $500 reimbursement for licensure fees. You can track the bills progress and read it by following the link below. In addition to this exciting bill, most states have an expedited endorsement process for military spouses.

The length of time it will take to get endorsed is usually faster if you are currently in the state you are applying for. A big reason for this is the fingerprinting process. If you are already in your new state you can complete fingerprinting through the computer which gets back to the Board of Nursing quickly. If you are out of state, the board has to send you a form on which your fingerprints are documented and then you have to mail it back before they can even start the background check. I had to go to my county jail to get my fingerprints done. It was quite the adventure and made for an interesting people watching experience!

I had some misconceptions about endorsement. I thought that I only had to maintain my Florida license (state of residency) and the license would endorse my North Carolina license (state I'm working in) indefinitely as long as kept up with it. This is not the case. I have to at least keep up with the requirements for my NC license. I could let my FL lapse or place it inactive but I plan to return there so I choose to keep it. Another misconception I had was that now that I have a NC license I would have the ability to practice in all Compact states. This is also not the case. In order for that to be true I would have to declare NC as my primary residence and there is no way in hell that is happening because of the wonderful MSRRA and Florida being a tax free state! More to follow about that later! See the Nurse Licensure Compact FAQ link below for more details.

If you are lucky enough to be a resident of a Compact state (i.e. Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, or Wisconsin) then you don't have to bother with endorsement! The only time a person who holds a license in a Compact state would apply for endorsement for another Compact state would be if they were going to declare residency in that state. There is a 90 day time limit to do this. More states are currently being added to the Nurse Licensure Compact through the Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact. See the National Council of State Boards of nursing's website for details.