Is Louisiana a nursing compact state?

What Louisiana’s compact status means

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

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

What nurses coming to Louisiana should know

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

When Louisiana joined the Nurse Licensure Compact

The compact became usable in Louisiana on July 1, 2019. From that date, nurses holding an active multistate license issued by another compact state could practice in Louisiana under compact privilege.

Sourced from yearinreview2019.ncsbn.org, yearinreview2018.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 Louisiana’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 Louisiana, so you can check our answer against the law rather than taking our word for it.

Compact statute

La. R.S. 37:1018 to 37:1020 (Title 37, ch. 11, pt. V) — Nurse Licensure Compact ↗

Cited to the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, which names its own governing statute as "Part V, Chapter 11 of Title 37, section 1018 through 1020". The legislature’s text is not directly addressable — legis.la.gov serves statutes by document ID issued from its own search rather than by section number — so this is the regulator’s statement of the citation rather than a reading of the enacted text. That is a weaker source than the Arizona or Wyoming records here and is marked as such deliberately.

Nurse practice act

Louisiana nursing licensure law (LSBN) ↗

Louisiana’s own license lookup

Louisiana State Board of Nursing licensure verification ↗

Louisiana states outright that some licenses are NOT available for public verification and must be requested by email. So a blank result here does not mean the nurse is unlicensed — the same trap as Washington’s temporary permits, arriving by a different route. Outbound verification to a non-Nursys state is a mailed form with a $25 money order specifically, which is worth knowing before someone tries to pay by card.

Board of nursing

Louisiana 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 Louisiana

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

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

Verifying a Louisiana nursing license

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

Travel assignments and telehealth in Louisiana

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

Renewal and continuing education

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