Is Maryland a nursing compact state?

What Maryland’s compact status means

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

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

What nurses coming to Maryland should know

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

When Maryland joined the Nurse Licensure Compact

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original compact since 2000; we have not separately verified when Maryland first joined that earlier compact, so we do not publish a date for it.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

Compact statute

Md. Code, Health Occupations §§ 8-7A-01 to 8-7A-05 (Nurse Licensure Compact); board authority at § 8-205(a)(1) ↗

Maryland gives the compact its own subtitle (8-7A) within the Health Occupations Article, with the operating detail in regulation at COMAR 10.27.22. Worth knowing for anyone tracing the history: Maryland joined the original compact in 1999, before the enhanced NLC existed, so its compact law long predates the 2018 rewrite that most states are working from.

Nurse practice act

Md. Code, Health Occupations, tit. 8 (Nurses) ↗

Maryland was among the first states to join the original compact, in 1999.

Maryland’s own license lookup

Maryland CHART license lookup ↗

Maryland runs its own lookup through CHART, separate from Nursys, and it is primary-source verification updated daily — printable for the facility file. What makes Maryland unusual is that the board argues AGAINST paper: it warns that paper licenses are only accurate at the moment they are printed, are easy to forge, and are used for identity fraud, and it treats a paper verification form as the fallback for the rare employer who will not accept the online result. That is the opposite instruction to North Carolina, which asks you to print the confirmation because the printout IS your proof. Both are right about their own systems, which is precisely why “just get a copy of the verification” is not portable advice.

Board of nursing

Maryland 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 Maryland

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

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

Verifying a Maryland nursing license

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

Travel assignments and telehealth in Maryland

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

Renewal and continuing education

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