Is Utah a nursing compact state?

What Utah’s compact status means

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

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

What nurses coming to Utah should know

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

When Utah joined the Nurse Licensure Compact

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in the original compact since 2000; we have not separately verified when Utah first joined that earlier compact, so we do not publish a date for it.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

Compact statute

In force — citation not yet confirmed.

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

Nurse practice act

Utah nursing licensure law (DOPL) ↗

Utah’s own license lookup

Utah DOPL licence lookup & verification ↗

Conventional: a public online lookup through the Division of Professional Licensing, with no fee gate, credential split, identifier requirement or terminology trap found in this review. Recorded as unremarkable on purpose — after thirty-five states of exceptions it is worth knowing which ones simply work the way you would expect.

Board of nursing

Utah 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 Utah

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

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

Verifying a Utah nursing license

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

Travel assignments and telehealth in Utah

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

Renewal and continuing education

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