Living in North Dakota, working in South Dakota
Can a North Dakota nurse work in South Dakota?
If your primary state of residence is North Dakota and you hold an active multistate license from North Dakota, you may generally practice in South Dakota under compact privilege — without applying for a separate South Dakota license.
North Dakota vs South Dakota at a glance
| North Dakota (home) | South Dakota (work) | |
|---|---|---|
| Compact status | Compact | Compact |
| Multistate license for residents | Yes | Yes |
| Compact nurses can practice here | Yes | Yes |
| Board of nursing | North Dakota board ↗ | South Dakota 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 North Dakota license is multistate in Nursys, then review any South Dakota-specific requirements with the South Dakota 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 South Dakota’s current requirements with the South Dakota Board of Nursing.
North Dakota and South Dakota share a border
Both are on the same side of the compact, so crossing this particular border does not change your licensure position the way it would at a compact seam. The usual cross-border questions still apply — where you actually reside, and which state each employer sits in.
Where each license is actually checked
These two states do not verify the same way, and the difference matters at different moments: North Dakota is what you will be asked to produce, South Dakota is what an employer there will run.
Your home state
North Dakota
North Dakota Board of Nursing license lookup ↗The strongest free lookup found so far: real-time against the board’s own database (not a nightly extract, so no Mississippi-style next-day gap), treated as primary source, and it shows discipline history inline with links to the public records rather than a bare flag. Paid extras sit above it — $35 for an official verification, $65 for a downloadable list of active LPNs, RNs and APRNs. Note that list refreshes monthly on the second business day, so it can be up to a month stale where the free lookup is current.
Where you want to work
South Dakota
South Dakota Board of Nursing license verification ↗Conventional public verification, with no fee gate, credential split or identifier requirement found in this review — the second such case after Utah. Structurally, South Dakota sits its board inside the Department of Health rather than running a standalone agency, the same arrangement as Hawaii under DCCA and Georgia under the Secretary of State. That affects where you look, not what you get.
How long each has been part of this
Both North Dakota and South Dakota 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
North Dakota
N.D. Cent. Code ch. 43-12.4 (Nurse Licensure Compact) ↗The compact sits in its own chapter, 43-12.4, next to but separate from the Nurse Practices Act at 43-12.1 — close enough in numbering to mis-cite, far enough apart in subject to matter. North Dakota joined the original compact on 1 January 2004 and moved to the enhanced one on 19 January 2018, and it legislated for the APRN compact in the same 2017 session. That makes it the fourth jurisdiction here, with Iowa, Idaho and Delaware, carrying APRN compact law on the books.
Scope is set separately. What you may actually do here comes from NDCC 43-12.1 (Nurse Practices Act) ↗.
Where you want to work
South Dakota
S.D. Codified Laws §§ 36-9-98 to 36-9-99 (Nurse Licensure Compact) ↗South Dakota gives the compact no chapter of its own — it is two sections at the end of ch. 36-9, the registered and practical nurses chapter, which is why a search for a South Dakota compact CHAPTER finds nothing and why this citation went unconfirmed here for so long. § 36-9-98 carries the whole compact: “The Nurse Licensure Compact is enacted into law and entered into with all other jurisdictions that legally join the compact.” The section after it is the unusual one. § 36-9-99 is headed “General funds not to be used to support compact” — South Dakota legislated the compact and, in the very next breath, legislated how it may not be paid for. Most states say nothing about funding at all.
Scope is set separately. What you may actually do here comes from South Dakota nursing licensure law (Board of Nursing, DOH) ↗.
Things to keep in mind
- Compact privilege only applies if your license is multistate, not single-state. Check this in Nursys.
- You must meet South Dakota'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.