Is Idaho a nursing compact state?

What Idaho’s compact status means

Because Idaho is a full compact state, a single multistate license issued by Idaho lets you practice in Idaho 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 Idaho under compact privilege — but you still have to follow Idaho'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 Idaho residents should know

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

What nurses coming to Idaho should know

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

When Idaho joined the Nurse Licensure Compact

Idaho 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in the original compact since 2000; we have not separately verified when Idaho first joined that earlier compact, so we do not publish a date for it.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 Idaho’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 Idaho, so you can check our answer against the law rather than taking our word for it.

Compact statute

In force — citation not yet confirmed.

Idaho 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 Idaho Board of Nursing is the authority in the meantime, and if you have the citation we will add it.

Nurse practice act

Idaho nursing licensure law (Board of Nursing, DOPL) ↗

Idaho’s own license lookup

Idaho DOPL board of nursing licence search ↗

Public search for LPN, RN and APRN records. Idaho’s outbound route is self-service in a way most states are not: a nurse pulls their own certification from their DOPL Online Services account rather than asking the board to produce one. That removes the board’s queue from the timeline entirely — but it also means the nurse has to have account access, which is worth checking before they need it rather than during a move.

Board of nursing

Idaho 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 Idaho

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 Idaho. See the APRN and the compact guide, and confirm specifics with the Idaho 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 Idaho.

By credential: Idaho RN & the compact, Idaho LPN, and Idaho 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 Idaho is a compact state, if you make it your PSOR you may qualify for a multistate license issued by Idaho — often more useful than a plain single-state license. Coming from another state, you generally apply to the Idaho Board of Nursing by endorsement. If you are relocating, the 60-day rule governs the timing.

Verifying a Idaho nursing license

Look any Idaho 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 Idaho Board of Nursing. See the full Idaho verification guide. CompactStates is an independent reference, not a verification service, and holds no license records.

Travel assignments and telehealth in Idaho

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

Renewal and continuing education

Renewal cycles, fees, and continuing-education requirements are set by the Idaho 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 Idaho renewal guide. If your Idaho license is multistate, keeping it renewed is what keeps your compact privilege active in every other compact state.