Issue
Modern health care delivery requires that nursing care, today and in the future, be dynamic and fluid across state boundaries, but the 100 year-old model of nurse licensure is not flexible, adaptable nor nimble enough to best meet this need.
Solution
The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) increases access to care, protects patient safety and reduces costs while supporting state-of-the-art health care delivery – for today and in the future. The NLC allows for registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPN/VNs) to have one multistate license, with the privilege to practice in their home state and other NLC states without obtaining additional licenses.
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Proven, Safe and Efficient
- The NLC has been operational and successful for more than 18 years and continues to grow each year with the addition of new states.
- All the safeguards that are built into the current state licensing process are required before a nurse is issued a multistate license.
- The NLC has uniform licensure requirements so that all states can be confident that new nurses practicing within the NLC have met a set of minimum requirements, regardless of the home state in which they are licensed.
- All states that participate in the NLC conduct federal criminal background checks to determine eligibility for a multistate license.