Living in Delaware, working in New Hampshire
Can a Delaware nurse work in New Hampshire?
If your primary state of residence is Delaware and you hold an active multistate license from Delaware, you may generally practice in New Hampshire under compact privilege — without applying for a separate New Hampshire license.
Delaware vs New Hampshire at a glance
| Delaware (home) | New Hampshire (work) | |
|---|---|---|
| Compact status | Compact | Compact |
| Multistate license for residents | Yes | Yes |
| Compact nurses can practice here | Yes | Yes |
| Board of nursing | Delaware board ↗ | New Hampshire 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 Delaware license is multistate in Nursys, then review any New Hampshire-specific requirements with the New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire’s current requirements with the New Hampshire Board of Nursing.
Where each license is actually checked
These two states do not verify the same way, and the difference matters at different moments: Delaware is what you will be asked to produce, New Hampshire is what an employer there will run.
Your home state
Delaware
Delaware DELPROS search & verify ↗Free lookup with a discipline column — where history exists it reads "Yes" and the Board Orders themselves are downloadable, not just flagged. Delaware does not issue written verifications for RNs and LPNs at all; that route is Nursys only, like Maine. APRNs go through a separate verification process instead — the second jurisdiction in this cohort, after D.C., where RN and LPN traffic rides shared national infrastructure and advanced practice is handled apart from it.
Where you want to work
New Hampshire
New Hampshire OPLC license lookup ↗New Hampshire separates a free license LOOKUP from a license VERIFICATION you apply for — the same two-product split as Nebraska, but named clearly enough that it is harder to order the wrong one. Its board also regulates a wider set of credentials than most: alongside RN, LPN and APRN it licenses nursing assistants, medication nursing assistants and nursing instructors. If you are checking someone whose title is not RN or LPN, New Hampshire may well have a record where another state would have none.
How long each has been part of this
Both Delaware and New Hampshire began recognizing compact privilege in 2018. A pairing of two states that arrived together is the simplest case there is: neither has a transitional quirk the other lacks.
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
Delaware
Del. Code tit. 24, ch. 19A (Nurse Multistate Licensure Compact) ↗Delaware keeps the compact out of the nursing chapter entirely: ch. 19 is Nursing, ch. 19A is the Nurse Multistate Licensure Compact, and ch. 19B is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact. The APRN chapter is worth reading carefully — its heading in the code is qualified “[Effective upon …]”, so Delaware has enacted APRN compact law that is contingent rather than in force. That is primary-source confirmation of the general point: a state having APRN compact language on its books does not mean an APRN multistate license exists there.
Scope is set separately. What you may actually do here comes from 24 Del. C. ch. 19 (Board of Nursing) ↗.
Where you want to work
New Hampshire
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 326-B:46 (Nurse Licensure Compact) ↗New Hampshire folds the compact into the Nurse Practice Act itself, at RSA 326-B:46, rather than giving it a separate chapter. It also puts a qualification on the compact administrator that most states leave to internal appointment: New Hampshire’s administrator must hold a current New Hampshire nursing license and represent the board.
Scope is set separately. What you may actually do here comes from RSA 326-B (Nurse Practice Act); N.H. Admin. R. Nur 100–800 ↗.
Things to keep in mind
- Compact privilege only applies if your license is multistate, not single-state. Check this in Nursys.
- You must meet New Hampshire'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
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.