LPN and LVN are the same license type
Most states call this role LPN (licensed practical nurse); California and Texas call it LVN (licensed vocational nurse). For compact purposes they are treated the same — both are covered.
Who qualifies
The requirements mirror the RN side:
- Primary state of residence in a compact state.
- An active, unencumbered LPN/LVN license.
- Meeting the compact’s uniform licensure requirements.
The compact states for LPNs and LVNs are exactly the compact nursing states — there is no separate LPN compact or LPN-only list. Living in a non-compact state means a multistate LPN/LVN license isn’t available through that state.
The license travels. The scope does not.
Privilege works exactly as it does for RNs: your multistate license authorizes practice in the other compact states. What it does not do is carry your own state’s practice rules with you — you work under the assignment state’s nurse practice act, and that is where the LPN/LVN experience stops mirroring the RN one.
Differences between states are simply more consequential at this level. The scope of practice for practical and vocational nurses is drawn more variably than it is for registered nurses, so the same license can mean a noticeably different job across a state line. These are the areas worth checking against the assignment state’s board before a first shift rather than after:
- IV therapy and infusion — whether it is within scope, and whether it needs a certification the state recognizes separately.
- Assessment. States differ on how they divide assessment from data collection, and on what an LPN/LVN may document as a conclusion.
- Delegation and supervision — what you may accept, what you may direct, and who must be available.
- Medication administration routes, and any that are excluded.
We do not publish per-state scope, because it is set by each board and changes; the list above is what to ask about, not a claim about any state. The board of nursing for the state you are going to is the authority.
Where an employer’s job title fits in
A related trap, and a common one for practical and vocational nurses because roles are titled so variably: the compact governs licensure, and nothing else. It does not decide what an employer calls the role, what its own policy allows you to do, or what a unit’s competencies require. Those sit on top of the state’s scope, and they can be narrower than it — never wider. So there are three layers to be satisfied before a first shift, and privilege only settles the first: are you licensed to practice here, does this state’s practice act permit the task, and does this employer permit it of you.
How to confirm your license type
Check whether your LPN/LVN license is single-state or multistate in Nursys, and use the compact state checker to see where you can practice.