Living in Ohio, working in Washington
Can an Ohio nurse work in Washington?
If your primary state of residence is Ohio and you hold an active multistate license from Ohio, you may generally practice in Washington under compact privilege — without applying for a separate Washington license.
Ohio vs Washington at a glance
| Ohio (home) | Washington (work) | |
|---|---|---|
| Compact status | Compact | Compact |
| Multistate license for residents | Yes | Yes |
| Compact nurses can practice here | Yes | Yes |
| Board of nursing | Ohio board ↗ | Washington 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 Ohio license is multistate in Nursys, then review any Washington-specific requirements with the Washington State Board of Nursing (WABON).
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 Washington’s current requirements with the Washington State Board of Nursing (WABON).
Where each license is actually checked
These two states do not verify the same way, and the difference matters at different moments: Ohio is what you will be asked to produce, Washington is what an employer there will run.
Your home state
Ohio
Ohio eLicense verification ↗eLicense is a shared system covering two dozen Ohio agencies, so the first step is selecting the Nursing Board — search without it and a nurse can appear to be missing when the search simply was not looking at nursing. Worth knowing for hospital credentialing: Ohio states that its online status information satisfies primary-source verification for the Joint Commission and NCQA, so the result can stand as the file copy rather than being a preliminary check you then have to repeat.
Where you want to work
Washington
Washington DOH Provider Credential Search ↗Washington splits by LICENSE TYPE rather than credential: a Washington single-state license is verified through the DOH Provider Credential Search, while a multistate license issued by another state is verified through Nursys. Note the board will not verify a credential that is pending, closed, or holding only a temporary practice permit — so a genuinely new hire on a temporary permit will not return a verification, which is a timing problem rather than a red flag.
How long each has been part of this
Both Ohio and Washington began recognizing compact privilege in 2023. A pairing of two states that arrived together is the simplest case there is: neither has a transitional quirk the other lacks.
One of these two ran a two-phase rollout — honouring incoming privilege before issuing multistate licenses to its own residents, which are separate switches on separate dates. The adoption timeline gives both dates for every jurisdiction.
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
Ohio
Ohio Rev. Code § 4723.11 ↗Scope is set separately. What you may actually do here comes from Ohio Rev. Code ch. 4723 ↗.
Where you want to work
Washington
Substitute Senate Bill 5499 (2023) ↗Signed 21 April 2023, making Washington the 40th jurisdiction to enact. The same legislation renamed the regulator from the Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission to the Washington State Board of Nursing.
Scope is set separately. What you may actually do here comes from RCW ch. 18.79 (Nursing Care) ↗.
Things to keep in mind
- Compact privilege only applies if your license is multistate, not single-state. Check this in Nursys.
- You must meet Washington'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.