What decides whether you need a new license
Two things: whether New Jersey 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 New Jersey on assignment
Working under privilege still means following New Jersey's scope of practice and nurse practice act, and you remain accountable to the New Jersey Board of Nursing while you are here. If any of the assignment is telehealth, remember licensure generally follows the patient’s location — see the New Jersey telehealth guide.
The law that governs this in New Jersey
Taking an assignment in New Jersey is practice in New Jersey, so it is New Jersey’s own nurse practice act that defines what you may do and the New Jersey Board of Nursing that applies it. That act is N.J.S.A. 45:11 (Nurses).
The compact itself is separate law. New Jersey adopted it at P.L. 2019, c. 172 (entering New Jersey into the Nurse Licensure Compact), which is what allows a multistate license issued elsewhere to reach New Jersey 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 New Jersey Board of Nursing.
Since when has a compact license worked in New Jersey?
Nurses holding another state’s multistate license have been able to practice in New Jersey since March 1, 2020. It has been a member long enough that most guidance you find will be accurate on this point.
Note the asymmetry: New Jersey opened to visiting nurses on that date but did not begin issuing multistate licenses to its own residents until November 15, 2021. If you are taking an assignment in New Jersey while living elsewhere, the earlier date is the one that applies to you. If you move to New Jersey, the later one does.