Living in Oregon, working in Idaho
Can an Oregon nurse work in Idaho?
Living in Oregon generally means you cannot obtain a multistate license, because Oregon is not a compact state. To work in Idaho, you will usually need a single-state Idaho license or a license by endorsement — not compact privilege.
Oregon vs Idaho at a glance
| Oregon (home) | Idaho (work) | |
|---|---|---|
| Compact status | Non-compact | Compact |
| Multistate license for residents | No | Yes |
| Compact nurses can practice here | No | Yes |
| Board of nursing | Oregon board ↗ | Idaho 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 a Idaho license by endorsement through the Idaho 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 Idaho’s current requirements with the Idaho Board of Nursing.
Oregon and Idaho share a border
That makes this pairing a compact seam — the line where multistate privilege stops. Idaho issues and honours multistate licenses; Oregon 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: Oregon is what you will be asked to produce, Idaho is what an employer there will run.
Your home state
Oregon
Oregon State Board of Nursing primary source verification ↗The most detailed verification in the cohort: alongside license type, number, issue, renewal and expiry dates, it reports whether the license has EVER been disciplined and names the action — reprimand, civil penalty, probation, suspension, revocation, or voluntary surrender. Most state lookups return a yes/no discipline flag, so a clean Oregon record is a stronger statement than a clean record elsewhere.
Where you want to work
Idaho
Idaho DOPL board of nursing license search ↗Public search for LPN, RN and APRN records. Idaho’s outbound route is self-service in a way most states are not: a nurse pulls their own certification from their DOPL Online Services account rather than asking the board to produce one. That removes the board’s queue from the timeline entirely — but it also means the nurse has to have account access, which is worth checking before they need it rather than during a move.
How long each has been part of this
Idaho has recognized compact privilege since January 19, 2018. Oregon 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
Oregon
Oregon has no compact statute, because it has not enacted the compact. Practicing here means holding an Oregon license.
Scope is set separately. What you may actually do here comes from ORS ch. 678 (Nurse Practice Act) ↗.
Where you want to work
Idaho
Idaho Code § 54-1418 (Nurse Licensure Compact) ↗Idaho keeps the compact in its own section near the end of the nursing chapter, and the section immediately after it — § 54-1419 — is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact. Idaho is the second jurisdiction in this survey, after Iowa, to have legislated for both. As with Iowa, that means Idaho has passed APRN compact law, not that APRN privilege is available; the two compacts are separate instruments with separate activation.
Scope is set separately. What you may actually do here comes from Idaho nursing licensure law (Board of Nursing, DOPL) ↗.
Things to keep in mind
- A compact (multistate) license is issued by your primary state of residence. Since Oregon is non-compact, that option is not available through Oregon.
- If you later make a compact state your primary residence, you may become eligible for a multistate license then.
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.