Is Missouri a nursing compact state?

What Missouri’s compact status means

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

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

What nurses coming to Missouri should know

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

When Missouri joined the Nurse Licensure Compact

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original compact since 2000; we have not separately verified when Missouri first joined that earlier compact, so we do not publish a date for it.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

Compact statute

In force — citation not yet confirmed.

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

Nurse practice act

RSMo ch. 335 (Nurses), §§ 335.011–335.096 ↗

Missouri’s own license lookup

Missouri Division of Professional Registration licensee search ↗

Missouri treats BOTH routes as primary source: Nursys holds data supplied directly by the board, and the Division’s own search is itself a primary-source verification, refreshed nightly. Either satisfies a credentialing file — so unlike states where one system is authoritative, here the choice is genuinely yours.

Board of nursing

Missouri 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 Missouri

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

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

Verifying a Missouri nursing license

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

Travel assignments and telehealth in Missouri

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

Renewal and continuing education

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