Living in Texas, working in Missouri
Can a Texas nurse work in Missouri?
If your primary state of residence is Texas and you hold an active multistate license from Texas, you may generally practice in Missouri under compact privilege — without applying for a separate Missouri license.
Texas vs Missouri at a glance
| Texas (home) | Missouri (work) | |
|---|---|---|
| Compact status | Compact | Compact |
| Multistate license for residents | Yes | Yes |
| Compact nurses can practice here | Yes | Yes |
| Board of nursing | Texas board ↗ | Missouri 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 Texas license is multistate in Nursys, then review any Missouri-specific requirements with the Missouri 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 Missouri’s current requirements with the Missouri State 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: Texas is what you will be asked to produce, Missouri is what an employer there will run.
Your home state
Texas
Texas BON license verification ↗Texas runs two different things under the word “verification”, and confusing them costs weeks. The online lookup answers “is this license real and current” for an employer, immediately. But board-to-board verification for ENDORSEMENT into another state is a separate paper process — a Verification of Registered/Professional Nurse Licensure form, returned to the board by email — not something the public lookup produces. If another state has asked you for verification of your Texas license, a printout of the online result is unlikely to be what they meant.
Where you want to work
Missouri
Missouri Division of Professional Registration licensee search ↗Missouri treats BOTH routes as primary source: Nursys holds data supplied directly by the board, and the Division’s own search is itself a primary-source verification, refreshed nightly. Either satisfies a credentialing file — so unlike states where one system is authoritative, here the choice is genuinely yours.
How long each has been part of this
Both Texas and Missouri 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
Texas
Tex. Occ. Code ch. 304 (§§ 304.001–304.010) ↗Chapter 304 is the compact itself; the Board’s implementing rules sit in the Texas Administrative Code.
Scope is set separately. What you may actually do here comes from Tex. Occ. Code ch. 301 (Nursing Practice Act) ↗.
Where you want to work
Missouri
RSMo ch. 335, Nurse Licensure Compact provisions at §§ 335.300 et seq. (incl. §§ 335.365, 335.370, 335.375) ↗Missouri names the board’s executive director as the head of the licensing board for compact purposes, and states plainly that a nurse practicing here on privilege is subject to Missouri discipline — the point that surprises people, since the license itself was issued elsewhere. Note also that the compact sections sit apart from the nurse practice act sections (§§ 335.011–335.096) in the same chapter, so a citation to “chapter 335” alone does not identify compact law.
Scope is set separately. What you may actually do here comes from RSMo ch. 335 (Nurses), §§ 335.011–335.096 ↗.
Things to keep in mind
- Compact privilege only applies if your license is multistate, not single-state. Check this in Nursys.
- You must meet Missouri'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.