Proper Licensing for Nurses & Advanced Practice Professionals

The last couple of years have been challenging ones with the market place being in flux.   As more jobs come open for Nurses, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants, one of the biggest questions we get is about obtaining a new state license, whether for travel or a new full-time opportunity.  Often this can be one of the biggest challenges for relocating or becoming a traveler.

Licensing varies from state to state. The Federation of State Medical Boards offers a directory on its website at http://www.fsmb.org/directory_smb.html for medical boards. For nursing boards and information, http://www.healthguideusa.org will help you research what’s needed for each state.  For Nurses and Nurse Practitioners it is important to know if your license is “compact”.  This means that your license can be used in certain other states without having to obtain another license. Remember that your permanent state license has to be a “compact” for this to apply.  For example, if your Michigan RN license is your permanent state license, and you obtain a Texas license, your Texas RN license is not compact because your primary license and residence is Michigan, which is not a compact state.  For Nurse Practitioners,  the same Nursing licensing rules apply.  However, you do need to obtain a Nurse Practitioner License in each state. 

When working to obtain your license, identify a contact person at the board to be in contact with. Be sure to ask how long will the process take, based on a best case scenario.  To ensure the best-case scenario, here are a few recommendations: 

• Gather all the information you need prior to sending.
• Share any malpractice claims or actions.
• If primary source verification is needed you can help the situation by coordinating the sources,
• Be in contact with all parties involved, education, licensing, employers, etc. 
• Be thorough when reading the paperwork – fill in all the blanks and pay attention to each state’s guidelines. 
• Be prepared to pay some fees, application costs, verification fees, faxing, shipping, etc.

Remember that the state licensing boards are not customer service agencies, it is not their job to remind you to have all the information or let you know if something is missing.  Following these simple recommendations can help you be prepared for whatever new and exciting adventures await.