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Can I work in Mississippi with a compact license?

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

Can I work in Mississippi with a compact nursing license?

YesMississippi recognizes compact privilege, so an active multistate (compact) license from your compact home state authorizes you to practice in Mississippi without a separate Mississippi license. Your license must be multistate, not single-state — check which you hold on Nursys. You must still follow Mississippi’s scope of practice and nurse practice act.

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 Mississippi on privilege

Because Mississippi participates, an active multistate license lets you work in Mississippi — 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 Mississippi

Working in Mississippi on another state’s license is practice in Mississippi, so it is Mississippi’s own nurse practice act that defines what you may do and the Mississippi Board of Nursing that applies it. That act is Miss. Code Ann. § 73-15-1 et seq. (Mississippi Nursing Practice Law).

The compact itself is separate law. Mississippi adopted it at Miss. Code Ann. § 73-15-201 (Nurse Licensure Compact), which is what allows a multistate license issued elsewhere to reach Mississippi at all — the practice act still decides what you may do once it does.

Read off the Board of Nursing’s own published copy of the section, which opens “The Nurse Licensure Compact is enacted into law and entered into by this state with any and all states legally joining in the compact.” That document also carries the trap: its header reads “Formerly cited as MS ST 73-15-22”. Mississippi RENUMBERED the compact, so an older citation points at 73-15-22 and a search for it in the current code comes back empty — the same shape of problem as Arizona’s repealed sections, except here the text moved rather than died.

Confirm before you rely on it

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

Since when has a compact license worked in Mississippi?

Nurses holding another state’s multistate license have been able to practice in Mississippi since January 19, 2018. It has been a member long enough that most guidance you find will be accurate on this point.

Where a Mississippi multistate license reaches

If your Mississippi license is multistate — not every Mississippi license is — it carries privilege into these 39 jurisdictions, because each one currently issues and honours multistate licenses. It reaches nowhere else, and a non-compact state needs its own license by endorsement.

Two conditions sit underneath this list and neither is visible on it. Your primary state of residence must actually be Mississippi — privilege follows residence, not where the license was issued. And the license itself must be multistate rather than single-state, which is a fact about your record that only verification can settle.

Alabama · Arizona · Arkansas · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · Florida · Georgia · Idaho · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

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 Mississippi's scope of practice and nurse practice act.
  • Keep your home-state license active and in good standing.

Frequently asked questions

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