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Can I work in Guam with a compact license?

Guam recognizes compact privilege, so an active multistate license can authorize Guam practice. Here is exactly when it does, and what to check first.

Can I work in Guam with a compact nursing license?

YesGuam recognizes compact privilege, so an active multistate (compact) license from your compact home state authorizes you to practice in Guam without a separate Guam license. Your license must be multistate, not single-state — check which you hold on Nursys. You must still follow Guam’s scope of practice and nurse practice act. Guam is a special/partial implementation: privilege to practice is recognized, but Guam residents cannot yet obtain a Guam-issued multistate license.

Last reviewed 2026-06-17

What compact privilege is

A multistate license from your primary state of residence carries compact privilege — the authority to practice in other compact states without licensing separately in each. It only exists between states that are live in the Nurse Licensure Compact.

Practicing in Guam on privilege

Because Guam participates, an active multistate license lets you work in Guam — common for travel nurses and telehealth. Privilege follows the patient’s location and your home-state license staying active and multistate.

The law that governs this in Guam

Working in Guam on another state’s license is practice in Guam, so it is Guam’s own nurse practice act that defines what you may do and the Guam Board of Nurse Examiners that applies it. That act is Guam nursing licensure law (Guam Board of Nurse Examiners, HPLO).

The compact itself is separate law. Guam adopted it at 10 GCA ch. 12, art. 3A (Nurse Licensure Compact); added by P.L. 36-006:1 (5 March 2021), which is what allows a multistate license issued elsewhere to reach Guam at all — the practice act still decides what you may do once it does.

Read off the compiled article published by Guam’s own Health Professional Licensing Office, headed “10 GCA Health and Safety, Ch. 12 Medical Practices” and sourced to P.L. 36-006:1. Guam did something almost no other jurisdiction did: it legislated ONGOING MEASUREMENT of the compact alongside joining it. P.L. 36-006 requires the Board of Nurse Examiners to report quarterly to the licensing office how many nurses hold a multistate license issued by Guam and how many licensed by other compact jurisdictions are working here, and to file an annual fiscal impact report on licensure fee revenue and operating costs with the Speaker. Most compact statutes are silent on what joining costs or achieves.

Confirm before you rely on it

License status changes and the compact evolves. Confirm your own license type on Nursys and check Guam’s current rules with the Guam Board of Nurse Examiners. CompactStates.com is an independent guide, not a licensing authority.

Compact privilege in Guam

Nurses holding another state’s multistate license may practice in Guam under compact privilege. We have not been able to confirm the date that started, so we do not print one — Guam has implemented the half of the compact that recognizes visiting nurses without completing the half that issues multistate licenses to its own residents, and the jurisdiction has published no clean date for the first. The Guam Board of Nurse Examiners is the authority if you need one.

What usually comes next

Next-step checklist

  • Confirm your home-state license reads multistate on Nursys (nursys.com).
  • Confirm your primary state of residence is a compact state.
  • Follow Guam's scope of practice and nurse practice act.
  • Keep your home-state license active and in good standing.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Guam recognizes compact privilege, so an active multistate license from your compact home state lets you practice in Guam without a separate Guam license. Confirm your license is multistate (not single-state) on Nursys.