Nursing Licensure

State Boards of Nursing

Before taking any travel nurse assignment, you are required to be licensed to practice in that state (unless otherwise stated by the licensing body of your specialty). To make that process easier we have provided links to each travel nurse state’s licensure information.

Alabama (334) 242-4060 http://www.abn.state.al.us… 
Alaska (907) 465-2544   http://www.dced.state.ak.us/occ/pnur.htm… 
Arizona (602) 331-8111 http://www.azbn.gov/… 
Arkansas (501) 686-2700   http://www.state.ar.us/nurse/… 
California (916) 322-3350 http://www.rn.ca.gov/… 
Colorado 303-894-2430 http://www.dora.state.co.us/nursing/… 
Connecticut 860-509-7570  http://www.dph.state.ct.us/Licensure/lic… 
Delaware 302-739-4522 http://www.dpr.delaware.gov/boards/nursi… 
District of Columbia 877-672-2174 http://www.doh.dc.gov/doh/site/default.a… 
Florida (850) 488-0595 http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/nursing/… 
Georgia (478) 207-1640  http://www.sos.state.ga.us/plb/rn/… 
Hawaii (808) 586-3000 http://www.hawaii.gov/dcca/areas/pvl… 
Idaho (208) 334-3110  http://www2.state.id.us/ibn/ibnhome.htm… 
Illinois  (217) 782-8556  http://www.idfpr.com/dpr/WHO/nurs.asp… 
Indiana  317-234-2043 http://www.state.in.us/pla/bandc/isbn/… 
Iowa (515) 281-3255 http://www.state.ia.us/nursing/… 
Kansas (785) 296-4929  http://www.ksbn.org… 
Kentucky (502) 329-7000 http://www.kbn.ky.gov/… 
Louisiana (225) 755-7500  http://www.lsbn.state.la.us/… 
Maine (207) 287-1133 http://www.state.me.us/boardofnursing/… 
Maryland (410) 585-1900 http://www.mbon.org/main.php… 
Massachusetts (617) 727-9961 http://www.state.ma.us/reg/boards/rn/for… 
Michigan (517) 335-0918 http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-13… 
Minnesota (612) 617-2270  http://www.state.mn.us/cgi-bin/portal/mn… 
Mississippi (601) 987-4188 http://www.msbn.state.ms.us/… 
Missouri (573) 751-0681  http://www.pr.mo.gov/nursing.asp… 
Montana (406) 844-2340 http://bsd.dli.mt.gov/license/…
Nebraska (402) 471-4376 http://www.hhs.state.ne.us/crl/crlindex…. 
Nevada (702) 486-5800  http://www.nursingboard.state.nv.us/… 
New Hampshire (603) 271-2323  http://www.nh.gov/nursing/… 
New Jersey  (973) 504-6586 http://www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/medical/nu… 
New Mexico (505) 841-8340 http://www.bon.state.nm.us/
New York (518) 474-3845 http://www.op.nysed.gov/nurse.htm… 
North Carolina (919) 782-3211 http://www.ncbon.org/… 
North Dakota (701) 328-9777  http://www.ndbon.org… 
Ohio (614) 466-3947 http://www.state.oh.us/nur… 
Oklahoma (405) 962-1800 http://www.youroklahoma.com/nursing/… 
Oregon (503) 731-4745  http://www.osbn.state.or.us/… 
Pennsylvania (717) 783-7142 http://www.dos.state.pa.us/bpoa/cwp/view… 
Rhode Island (401) 222-5960  http://www.health.state.ri.us/hsr/profes… 
South Carolina (803) 896-4550 http://www.llr.state.sc.us/POL/Nursing/ … 
South Dakota (605) 362-2760 http://doh.sd.gov/boards/nursing/… 
Tennessee (615) 532-5166  http://health.state.tn.us/… 
Texas (512) 305-7400  http://www.bne.state.tx.us… 
Utah (801) 530-6628 http://www.dopl.utah.gov/licensing/nursi… 
Vermont (802) 828-2396 http://www.vtprofessionals.org/opr1/nurs… 
Virginia (804) 662-9909  http://www.dhp.state.va.us/nursing/defau… 
Washington (360) 236-4702  https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/hpqa1/HPS6/N… 
West Virginia (304) 558-3596 http://www.wvrnboard.com/… 
Wisconsin (608) 266-0145 http://drl.wi.gov/index.htm… 
Wyoming (307) 777-7601 http://nursing.state.wy.us/… 

Compact States:

A nurse with a permanent residency in a NLC state has a multi-state nursing license and is eligible to work in other states that make up the “compact states.”

  • Alabama
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • Colorado
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Idaho
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana (Registered Nurse and Practical Nurse)
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey (*New Jersey is allowing nurses who hold active, unencumbered, multi-state licenses issued by Nurse Licensure Compact member states to practice in New Jersey under their multi-state licenses.)
  • New Mexico
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Oklahoma
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Virginia
  • West Virginia (Registered Nurse and Practical Nurse)
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

Current Walk Through States:

Walk through states allow a nurse to be issued a temporary state nursing license within one hour to one day’s time. This temporary travel nursing license is used to practice nursing while awaiting permanent licensure to be processed. The temporary licenses obtained in walk through states are usually valid for 30 days to six months, depending on the state issuing the license. The following states are considered walk through states:

  • Arizona
  • Hawaii
  • Louisiana
  • Missouri
  • South Carolina