Living in Arizona, working in Nevada
Can an Arizona nurse work in Nevada?
A multistate (compact) license from Arizona generally does not authorize practice in Nevada, because Nevada is not a compact state. You will likely need a Nevada license by endorsement or a single-state Nevada license.
Arizona vs Nevada at a glance
| Arizona (home) | Nevada (work) | |
|---|---|---|
| Compact status | Compact | Non-compact |
| Multistate license for residents | Yes | No |
| Compact nurses can practice here | Yes | No |
| Board of nursing | Arizona board ↗ | Nevada board ↗ |
Status shown as of 2026-06-17. Compact law changes — confirm anything that affects your license with the state board.
Recommended next step
Apply for licensure by endorsement with the Nevada State Board of Nursing before practicing in Nevada.
Going the other way?
The answer is not the same in reverse. Living in Nevada and working in Arizona is a different question with a different answer, because the state that issues your license changes places with the state that has to honour it — Nevada to Arizona covers that direction.
Verify before you rely on this
Whether you can practice comes down to your actual license type, not just the two states’ status. Look your license up on Nursys to confirm it is single-state or multistate, then check Nevada’s current requirements with the Nevada State Board of Nursing.
Arizona and Nevada share a border
That makes this pairing a compact seam — the line where multistate privilege stops. Arizona issues and honours multistate licenses; Nevada does not. The boundary between them is a road people cross without thinking, and licensure changes at it.
This matters most for the people it is easiest to overlook: anyone living on one side and working on the other, picking up shifts across the line, or covering a facility that draws staff from both. A license that works at home does not follow you across a border a few minutes away. Our 2026 report maps every seam like this one.
Where each license is actually checked
These two states do not verify the same way, and the difference matters at different moments: Arizona is what you will be asked to produce, Nevada is what an employer there will run.
Your home state
Arizona
Arizona BON primary source verification ↗Arizona splits by credential: RN, LPN and APRN records are uploaded to Nursys daily, while CNA and other certifications stay on the board’s own portal. If you are verifying a nursing assistant, Nursys will not have them.
Where you want to work
Nevada
Nevada State Board of Nursing web verification ↗Checking a Nevada license online is free. But asking Nevada to verify a license TO another board is a separate, paid process — a written request with a $25 fee, sent by the board directly to the requesting agency rather than handed to the nurse. If a nurse is moving out of Nevada by endorsement, that request should be started early; it is not something they can print themselves.
How long each has been part of this
Arizona has recognized compact privilege since January 19, 2018. Nevada does not recognize it, so the comparison is not between two dates — it is between a state where privilege exists and one where a license has to be held outright.
The law behind each side
Compact privilege is not a courtesy between states — it is each legislature having enacted the compact into its own code. These are the provisions that do it.
Your home state
Arizona
A.R.S. tit. 32, ch. 15, art. 2.1 (§§ 32-1660 to 32-1660.03) — Nurse Licensure Compact ↗Confirmed at section level from the Arizona Legislature’s own text: § 32-1660 is headed "Nurse Licensure Compact" and opens "The nurse licensure compact is adopted and enacted into law as follows:". This replaces A.R.S. §§ 32-1668 and 32-1669, which were REPEALED when Arizona moved to the enhanced compact — those sections still surface in search results and on third-party mirrors, and citing them is the specific error this dataset exists to avoid. Which version of the compact text sits in art. 2.1 is not recorded here, because both versions carry the same heading and we have not read the uniform-requirements provisions; Arizona’s membership status is tracked separately and does not rest on that question.
Scope is set separately. What you may actually do here comes from A.R.S. tit. 32, ch. 15 (Nursing) ↗.
Where you want to work
Nevada
Nevada has no compact statute, because it has not enacted the compact. Practicing here means holding a Nevada license.
Scope is set separately. What you may actually do here comes from NRS ch. 632 (Nursing); NAC ch. 632 ↗.
Things to keep in mind
- Nevada controls its own licensure — apply directly through the Nevada State Board of Nursing.
- Compact privilege does not extend into non-compact states.
Frequently asked questions
Related pages
Sources & last reviewed
- NLC frequently asked questions— NCSBN / NurseCompact (nursecompact.com)
Covers multistate licenses, primary state of residence, the 60-day rule, telehealth, and license type coverage.
- NLC member states map & status— NCSBN / NurseCompact (nursecompact.com)
Identifies full members, partial implementation (Guam), and enacted/awaiting implementation (Massachusetts, U.S. Virgin Islands).
- Nursys QuickConfirm license verification— NCSBN / Nursys (nursys.com)
Recommended destination to verify whether a license is single-state or multistate.
Facts on this page were last reviewed against official sources on 2026-06-17. Compact law changes — always verify with your state board of nursing.