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Living in Connecticut, working in Pennsylvania

Connecticut Full compact statePennsylvania Full compact state

Can a Connecticut nurse work in Pennsylvania?

If your primary state of residence is Connecticut and you hold an active multistate license from Connecticut, you may generally practice in Pennsylvania under compact privilege — without applying for a separate Pennsylvania license.

Nurse Licensure Compact FAQLast reviewed 2026-06-17

Connecticut vs Pennsylvania at a glance

 Connecticut (home)Pennsylvania (work)
Compact statusCompactCompact
Multistate license for residentsYesYes
Compact nurses can practice hereYesYes
Board of nursingConnecticut board ↗Pennsylvania board ↗

Status shown as of 2026-06-17. Compact law changes — confirm anything that affects your license with the state board.

Recommended next step

Verify that your Connecticut license is multistate in Nursys, then review any Pennsylvania-specific requirements with the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing.

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 Pennsylvania’s current requirements with the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing.

Where each licence is actually checked

These two states do not verify the same way, and the difference matters at different moments: Connecticut is what you will be asked to produce, Pennsylvania is what an employer there will run.

Your home state

Connecticut

Connecticut eLicense verification

Connecticut is the second state, with Florida, where the state’s own licensing portal is not the nursing route. eLicense covers Connecticut’s professions generally, but DPH directs employers and the public to Nursys for RN and LPN verification specifically — the department even maintains a page for verifying professions OTHER than MD, DO, RN and LPN, which is the tell. Nurses checking their own status log into eLicense; employers checking someone else’s should start at Nursys. Written verification is a separate request again, not the online result.

Where you want to work

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS) verification

PALS answers the employer’s question — current status and expiry — from the public search, no account needed. The part that catches people is who has to act for the OTHER kind of verification: a Verification of License with History going to another state’s board must be requested by the licensee, logged into their own PALS dashboard. An employer or a receiving board cannot start it, and Pennsylvania asks that paper requests not be sent to the board office at all. If you are the nurse, this is on you and nobody will do it for you. Endorsement verification routed through Nursys is charged per licence type and per destination board, so two licences into two states is four charges, not one.

Things to keep in mind

  • Compact privilege only applies if your license is multistate, not single-state. Check this in Nursys.
  • You must meet Pennsylvania's practice requirements (for example, scope of practice and any continuing-education rules).
  • APRN roles are generally not covered by the standard compact — APRNs usually need separate authorization in each state.

Frequently asked questions

If your primary state of residence is Connecticut and you hold an active multistate license from Connecticut, you may generally practice in Pennsylvania under compact privilege — without applying for a separate Pennsylvania license.

Sources & last reviewed

  • NLC frequently asked questionsNCSBN / NurseCompact (nursecompact.com)

    Covers multistate licenses, primary state of residence, the 60-day rule, telehealth, and license type coverage.

  • NLC member states map & statusNCSBN / NurseCompact (nursecompact.com)

    Identifies full members, partial implementation (Guam), and enacted/awaiting implementation (Massachusetts, U.S. Virgin Islands).

  • Nursys QuickConfirm license verificationNCSBN / 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.