What decides whether you need a new license
Two things: whether Maine is a compact state, and whether your own license is multistate rather than single-state. Compact privilege only exists between compact states, and only a multistate license carries it. Run your exact home/assignment pairing through the compact state checker.
Practicing in Maine on assignment
Working under privilege still means following Maine's scope of practice and nurse practice act, and you remain accountable to the Maine State Board of Nursing while you are here. If any of the assignment is telehealth, remember licensure generally follows the patient’s location — see the Maine telehealth guide.
The law that governs this in Maine
Taking an assignment in Maine is practice in Maine, so it is Maine’s own nurse practice act that defines what you may do and the Maine State Board of Nursing that applies it. That act is Maine nursing licensure law (Board of Nursing).
The compact itself is separate law. Maine adopted it at Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 32, ch. 31, subch. 2-A (Nurse Licensure Compact), §§ 2171–2181, which is what allows a multistate license issued elsewhere to reach Maine at all — the practice act still decides what you may do once it does.
Before you sign
We are an independent licensing reference — we do not list assignments, agencies, or pay rates, and nothing here is a job offer. For the wider pre-assignment checklist (contract terms, credentialing, housing), see what to check before accepting a travel assignment. Confirm licensure with the Maine State Board of Nursing.
Since when has a compact license worked in Maine?
Nurses holding another state’s multistate license have been able to practice in Maine since January 19, 2018. It has been a member long enough that most guidance you find will be accurate on this point.
The compact statute in Maine: Maine inserts the compact as its own subchapter — 2-A — wedged between the board subchapter and the registered-nurse one, which is why it does not appear in a straight run of section numbers. Worth noting for anyone reading the chapter through: Maine also legislates telehealth nursing in the same chapter at subchapter 7, so the two questions a cross-border nurse usually has to ask separately are answered in one place here.