Recent Activity

Nurse Licensure Compact Update September 2025

(notes submitted by Mary O'Connor)

Act 68 of 2021 Nurse Licensure Compact was signed into law July 1, 2021 and was fully implemented on July 7, 2025.  Multi-state licensure (MSL) for Pennsylvania’s nearly 300,000 licensed Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses is and option to single state licensure (SSL). The PA State Board of Nursing website explains the points related to obtaining a MSL  

The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) regulations in PA are Temporary for three years. The SBN Board will begin to work on Permanent NLC Regulations in early 2026. The Board adopted 16A-5148 Temporary Regulations for Nurse Licensure Compact. Excerpts:

·         § 21.1104(a) Requirements for initial multistate licensure includes the Uniform Licensure Requirements.

·        Paragraph (1) requires applicants to meet the requirements for licensure in either the Professional Nursing Law or Practical Nursing Law and the Board’s regulations.  Licensees who obtained a license under Act 41 would not qualify for a multistate license because they have not met the licensure requirements under the Practice Acts. 

·        Paragraph (2) requires that applicants’ primary state of residence (PSOR) has to be in Pennsylvania. Documentation to prove PSOR is set out in Rule 9 402(3) of the NLC rules.

·        Paragraphs (3) - (5) requires applicants to provide a fingerprint background check from the FBI, complete 3 hours of Child Abuse training, and possess a valid Social Security Number.

·        Paragraph (6) requires that anyone who is a graduate of a foreign pre-license education program not taught in English or if the applicant’s native language is not in English must pass an English language proficiency exam.

·        Paragraphs (7) and (8), applicants cannot be convicted of a felony offense related to the practice of nursing or have an encumbered license in another state. The Board decides whether a misdemeanor offense is related to the practice of nursing.

·        Paragraph (10) disqualifies applicants from holding multistate licenses if they are enrolled in the Voluntary Recovery Program, Disciplinary Monitoring Unit, or Practice Educational Remediation Collaboration (PERC).

·        § 21.1105. Subsection (a) the conversion process clarifies that upon full implementation all existing licenses will be converted to single state licenses; subsection (b) existing licensees will have to apply for a multistate license should they desire one.

·        Paragraphs (c) and (d), existing Pennsylvania licenses who did not receive a license under 63 Pa.C.S. § 3111 (Act 41) would not be required to provide documentation evidencing their education, and where applicable, English language proficiency because that documentation was provided to the Board upon initial licensure.

·        § 21.1104(c), existing Pennsylvania licensees who obtained a license under Act 41 will be required to submit the education documentation when applying for a multistate license because the alternate pathway to licensure in Act 41 is based upon a combination of equivalency in the state licensure laws and experience, not a review of applicants’ educational programs. As such, at the time a license was issued under Act 41, applicants were not required to submit evidence of completion of an approved nursing education program.

·        § 21.1103(a)(3) -Because existing Pennsylvania licensees were not required to provide the FBI criminal background check when they obtained their Pennsylvania licenses, all applicants for multistate licenses must submit the background check.

·        Subsection (e) reiterates the prohibition in the NLC against licensees holding multistate licenses while participating in an alternative program.

·        § 21.1106 --changes to a primary state of residence; subsection (a) requires multistate licensees to document PSOR; subsection (b), if the multistate licensee moves to another party state, the PA multistate license is deactivated; subsection (c), if the move is to a non-party state, the PA license is converted to a single state license.  

·        § 21.1107(a) anyone disciplined by the Board who has a multistate license in Pennsylvania would have the license automatically be converted to a single state license. Once the disciplinary order expires, the licensee is required to request conversion of the license back to a multistate license.

The fees for MSL are:

·        Renewal fees - the same for multistate and single state licenses at $76 for LPN and $122 for RN (because staff is doing the same functions whether the licensee has a multistate or a single state license).

·        Conversion fee from existing Pennsylvania license to a multistate license is $105.* 

o   * Someone without an existing license would have to apply either for a license by endorsement, license by endorsement with exam, or a license by examination. Prices depend on whether the program is a PA-approved program, out-of-state 6 program, or foreign program because there is additional work needed to be completed. 

2. FBI & Act No. 79 of 2024 (“FBI-Approved Language to Implement Licensure Compacts” signed into law on July 17, 2024)

·        BPOA - Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS) now requires FBI clearance 

Effective January 13, 2025, all applicants for health care practitioner licenses must submit a full set of fingerprints to the Pennsylvania State Police for an FBI criminal history background check as a requirement for licensure. Individuals who are already licensed in Pennsylvania will not need to complete this background check to renew their current license. 

October 31st nurse license renewals are now open. License holders are reminded to get their Child Abuse Clearance done.  Single state and multi state license holders have no change in their license renewal date, even if they just went through the process to transition to multi state license. Nurses’ license renewal cohorts remain the same.

3. Technology - Technology interface between NCSBN, the Board's website, and the Department's websites and how they communicate with one another iis now functioning.

Additional Notes:

The Commonwealth partially implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact starting Sept. 5, 2023, and registered nurses and licensed practical nurses from other states who hold multistate licenses through the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) can provide in-person and telehealth services to PA patients.

Health care facilities are required to have a mechanism in place to verify the licensure status of eligible MSL nurse. Facilities who want to verify the status of a nurse's MSL can go to www.nursys.com, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing's (NCSBN) central repository for licensing information, and click on "Quick Confirm." 

it will be incumbent upon employers and licensees to look at both the Pennsylvania website and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) Nursys website to find people who have multistate  licenses in other states.  The Nursys eNotify program wherein employers register their nurses with NCSBN and receive updates regarding the status of their nurses’ licensure. 

 Click link to see the 43 NLC Jurisdictions and Status https://www.ncsbn.org/nurse-licensure-compact.htm