What this means if you’re an APRN
If you hold a multistate RN license, that license still covers your RN practice across compact states. But your APRN role — prescribing, advanced assessment, and the rest of your scope — is authorized separately by each state. So an APRN moving between states usually needs to obtain APRN authorization in the new state, even when the RN side is handled by the compact.
- Your RN license may travel under the compact.
- Your APRN authority generally does not — it is state by state.
- Scope of practice for APRNs also varies significantly between states.
Is there a separate APRN compact?
Yes — an APRN Compact exists, but it is a separate arrangement from the NLC and is not yet active. It requires seven states to enact it before it takes effect. As of mid-2026, five states had enacted it — Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming — leaving it two enactments short of activation, so no APRN is practicing on an APRN multistate license yet. Bills have been introduced in several other states, and compact legislation moves state by state and can change each session, so don’t assume APRN multistate privileges exist anywhere — verify the current status with the NCSBN compacts page and the relevant board of nursing.
Which states have enacted the APRN Compact?
As of mid-2026, five states have enacted the APRN Compact. Seven are required before it can activate, so none of these yet issues an APRN multistate license:
- Delaware
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Utah
- Wyoming
There is no APRN compact map to consult the way there is for the RN/LPN compact, because the APRN Compact is not operational — a list of enacted states is not a list of states where APRN privilege works. Enacting is only the first step; the compact must reach seven states and then be implemented. Because bills move each legislative session, confirm the current count on the NCSBN compacts page rather than relying on any fixed list, including this one.
Be sceptical of any APRN Compact list you find, including ours. When we re-checked in August 2026, published sources disagreed with each other on both how many states have enacted it and how many are needed to activate it — we have seen the threshold given as both seven and ten, and member counts of four and five. We could not settle it from a primary source, because the official APRN Compact site does not publish the member list or the threshold as plain text. We are telling you that rather than picking whichever figure looked most confident. If this decision matters to you, ask the board of nursing in the state you care about, and treat every third-party list — this page included — as a starting point rather than an answer. For the RN and LPN/VN side, see the compact states map.
How to confirm your APRN requirements
Check the board of nursing in the state where you want to practice as an APRN, and verify your current licenses in Nursys. Use the compact state checker for the RN-license side of the question, then confirm APRN authorization separately.