Is Arizona a nursing compact state?

What Arizona’s compact status means

Because Arizona is a full compact state, a single multistate license issued by Arizona lets you practice in Arizona and in other compact states without applying for a separate license in each one.

If you live in another compact state and hold an active multistate license there, you can generally practice in Arizona under compact privilege — but you still have to follow Arizona's laws and scope-of-practice rules while you work here.

Compact privilege only works if your license is the multistate type, not single-state. Check this before you rely on it.

What Arizona residents should know

If Arizona is your primary state of residence and you hold an active Arizona multistate license, you can practice in Arizona and in other compact states. If your Arizona license is single-state, ask the Arizona State Board of Nursing about converting it to multistate.

What nurses coming to Arizona should know

Coming from another compact state with an active multistate license? You can generally practice in Arizona under compact privilege — just follow Arizona’s practice rules. Coming from a non-compact state? You’ll apply for an Arizona license by endorsement.

When Arizona joined the Nurse Licensure Compact

Arizona was one of the 29 jurisdictions where the enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact took effect on January 19, 2018, the day the current compact went live nationwide. Many of these jurisdictions had participated in the original compact since 2000; we have not separately verified when Arizona first joined that earlier compact, so we do not publish a date for it.

Sourced from yearinreview2018.ncsbn.org, ncsbn.org. See the full NLC adoption timeline for every jurisdiction’s dates and methodology, or the Nursing Compact States Report 2026 for how far the compact reaches overall.

The law behind Arizona’s status

Compact status is not an opinion or a listing — it is a statute. These are the primary sources that actually govern licensure in Arizona, so you can check our answer against the law rather than taking our word for it.

Compact statute

In force — citation not yet confirmed.

Arizona has adopted the compact, but neither its board nor its code publishes a clean compact-specific citation we have been able to confirm. We would rather say so than print a section number that looks authoritative and is wrong. The Arizona State Board of Nursing is the authority in the meantime, and if you have the citation we will add it.

Nurse practice act

A.R.S. tit. 32, ch. 15 (Nursing) ↗

Arizona’s own license lookup

Arizona BON primary source verification ↗

Arizona splits by credential: RN, LPN and APRN records are uploaded to Nursys daily, while CNA and other certifications stay on the board’s own portal. If you are verifying a nursing assistant, Nursys will not have them.

Board of nursing

Arizona State Board of Nursing ↗

Statutory citations reviewed 2026-07-31. Citations change far more slowly than fees or processing times — which is why we publish these and not those. Enactment is not the same as implementation: check the dates above before relying on the compact here.

RN, LPN/LVN, and APRN coverage in Arizona

The Nurse Licensure Compact covers RN and LPN/LVN licenses. It does not, on its own, cover APRN roles — nurse practitioners, CRNAs, CNSs, and CNMs generally need separate APRN authorization in each state, including Arizona. See the APRN and the compact guide, and confirm specifics with the Arizona State Board of Nursing.

Coverage is the same for both credentials, so the state lists are the same: every RN compact state and every LPN/LVN compact state both include Arizona.

By credential: Arizona RN & the compact, Arizona LPN, and Arizona APRN.

Primary state of residence, moving, and endorsement

Your primary state of residence (PSOR) drives multistate eligibility — you can hold it in only one state at a time. Because Arizona is a compact state, if you make it your PSOR you may qualify for a multistate license issued by Arizona — often more useful than a plain single-state license. Coming from another state, you generally apply to the Arizona State Board of Nursing by endorsement. If you are relocating, the 60-day rule governs the timing.

Verifying a Arizona nursing license

Look any Arizona license up on Nursys QuickConfirm — it shows whether the license is single-state or multistate, its status, and its expiration. For anything Nursys does not show, use the Arizona State Board of Nursing. See the full Arizona verification guide. CompactStates is an independent reference, not a verification service, and holds no license records.

Travel assignments and telehealth in Arizona

Because Arizona recognizes compact privilege, an active multistate license from your compact home state generally covers a Arizona travel assignment, and telehealth to patients located in Arizona, without a separate Arizona license. Telehealth licensure generally follows the patient’s location. See the Arizona travel and telehealth guides.

Renewal and continuing education

Renewal cycles, fees, and continuing-education requirements are set by the Arizona State Board of Nursing and change over time, so we link you to the official source rather than list figures that could go stale. Nursys shows your expiration date and license type. See the Arizona renewal guide. If your Arizona license is multistate, keeping it renewed is what keeps your compact privilege active in every other compact state.