Part of the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) enacted in Pennsylvania in 2021 takes effect this month, allowing nurses who hold a multistate license to begin practicing in the commonwealth.
According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc. (NCSBN), registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPN/VN) who hold an active, unencumbered multistate license can practice in person or via telehealth in their home state or territory and in other NLC states.
There are currently 41 states or territories where the NLC has been enacted or the legislation is pending, according to nursinglicensemap.com. New York is not one of them.
Nurses residing in Pennsylvania will be able to apply for a multistate license once the NLC is fully implemented here.
Still, Joseph Fuglewicz, director of marketing, Twin Tiers, at Upper Allegheny Health System (UAHS), said it “is a step in the right direction for recruitment and retention of nurses.
“The process of onboarding clinical staff, such as nurses, is lengthy with many experiencing delays in being licensed,” he said. “An expedited onboarding process for nurses with multistate licenses could assist our current recruitment and retention initiatives we’ve been pursuing throughout 2023, where we continue to see a lot of success.”
Fuglewicz noted nurse turnover rates are at an all-time low at UAHS, currently less than 3%, with more than 25 RNs recruited so far this year.
“This legislation could only add to that momentum,” he said, adding New York’s adoption of similar legislation “could position UAHS with a streamlined process across state lines.”
The NLC serves to align nurse licensure requirements across various jurisdictions and all nurses applying for a multistate license have to meet the same standards, including state and federal background checks. It allows nurses to provide services to patients in NLC states without having to obtain additional licenses.
Katlyn Salerno, RN and clinical services manager at VNA Northwest PA, said, “I know how long and trying the applications are, and how expensive it can get to try to hold licenses in different states. The continuity is great for nurses.”
Salerno said VNA does not use “agency or ‘travel staff’” for personnel needs so the enactment’s organizational impact would be minimal, but agreed it would expedite nurse onboarding.
According to NCSBN, “In the event of a disaster, nurses from multiple states can easily respond to supply vital services. Additionally, almost every nurse, including primary care nurses, case managers, transport nurses, school and hospice nurses, among many others, needs to routinely cross state boundaries to provide the public with access to nursing services, and a multistate license facilitates this process.”
