Licensure follows the patient
The location that matters for telehealth is generally the patient’s, not yours. Sitting in one state and caring for a patient in California generally means you need authority to practice in California — via compact privilege or a California license. See telehealth: patient in another state.
The law that governs this in California
Caring for a patient located in California is practice in California, so it is California’s own nurse practice act that defines what you may do and the California Board of Registered Nursing that applies it. That act is Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 2700 et seq. (Nursing Practice Act).
There is no compact statute to cite for California, which is the substantive point rather than a gap in our research: California has not adopted the compact, so the practice act above is the whole of the law that applies to you here.
Compact status is not the only consideration
Even where a multistate license reaches California, your employer and the California Board of Registered Nursing may impose additional requirements, and some roles carry their own rules. Compact status answers one question — it is not a blanket authorization to practice remotely.
APRN telehealth is separate
The compact covers RN and LPN/LVN licenses only. If you work as an APRN, your advanced-practice authority is granted state by state and is not carried by a multistate RN license — a point that catches out a lot of remote NP roles.
Why compact privilege does not reach California
California has not adopted the compact. Either way the practical answer for caring for patients located in California is the same today: a multistate license from another state does not authorize it, and you generally need a California license from the California Board of Registered Nursing. Re-check before a start date rather than assuming — this is precisely the fact that changes.