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Nurse License

Travel Nurses require a nurse license in the state or province where they work. You will have to pay for this license and in some states you will need to have a drug screen, fingerprinting and possibly meet other requirements.

Do you have a Nurse License story or question? Learn about the Nurse Mafia. Visit our new Travel Nurse Forum Page.

Some states allow an NLC (Nurse Licensure Compact) which means when you have a license in one state that is part of the NLC you can practice in another NLC state. Note you must be a resident of an NLC state to qualify. See map at American Travel Nurse

NCSBN - The National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc., (NCSBN) is a not-for-profit organization whose membership comprises boards of nursing in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five United States territories – American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marina Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands .

A nurse can have her license verified on line if the state is part of nursys. The states that are part of nursys are listed below.

Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho,

Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,

Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New

Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota,

Ohio Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota,

Tennessee,Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington,

West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Information changes quickly. The website www.nursys.com will give you a current update.

Nursys® (Nurse System) is a computer system that contains nurse license and license discipline information that is provided by boards of nursing in the United States and its territories. Nursys® receives regular updates of nurse personal (name, address, etc.) and license information from participating boards of nursing. All boards of nursing, including non-participating boards, have access to information within Nursys®, and are able to enter and edit and discipline information.

At the bottom of the page you will see a link for popular traveled states like Arizona. Click on the link to find Arizona travel nurse information.

Through the link to each state, you will find an overview of what is required to practice nursing in the state that you choose. You will also see some general information on that state including the time zones.

Each state is different when it comes to licensing. Our goal is to give you a quick overview with pertinent and general information. Eventually we will include all states and Canadian Provinces.

Information on licensing changes occasionally, so it is important always to check with the individual state office. Our role is to help you find the right information quickly.

I remember wasting a lot of time looking in the wrong places for travel nurse Hawaii state license information. For example,in Hawaii; the Board responsible for nurse licensing is the PVL Licensing Branch in Honolulu. You can spend a lot of time googling sites before you know you are in the right place. It also helps to know the time zones. Hawaii is five or six hours behind where we live. This depends on the seasons because we live in Eastern Standard Zone. I needed to plan a convient time to phone Hawaii’s licensing board.

Time Zones

If you are a Canadian Nurse planning to work in the US Click here to access the Canadian Travel Page to read about other requirements such as NCLEX and Visa Screen.

Please click on the appropriate State link below. Example California will give you California travel nurse licensure information. We are adding nurse license information frequently. If you don’t see the state that you are looking for, please contact us and we will find the nurse license information you are looking for.

Alaska