Is Washington a nursing compact state?

What Washington’s compact status means

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

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

What nurses coming to Washington should know

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

When Washington joined the Nurse Licensure Compact

Washington signed the Nurse Licensure Compact into law on April 21, 2023 — signed by Gov. Jay Inslee (Substitute Senate Bill 5499); sponsored by Sen. Mark Mullet. Washington was the 40th jurisdiction to enact the NLC.

The compact became usable in Washington on July 24, 2023, 3 months after the law was signed. From that date, nurses holding an active multistate license issued by another compact state could practise in Washington under compact privilege.

Washington rolled out in two phases. Residents could not apply for a Washington multistate license until January 31, 2024 — 6 months after visiting nurses were first allowed to work here. If you read elsewhere that Washington “joined the compact” on a single date, that is why the dates disagree.

Sourced from ncsbn.org, ncsbn.org, nursing.wa.gov. 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 Washington’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 Washington, so you can check our answer against the law rather than taking our word for it.

Compact statute

Substitute Senate Bill 5499 (2023) ↗

Signed 21 April 2023, making Washington the 40th jurisdiction to enact. The same legislation renamed the regulator from the Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission to the Washington State Board of Nursing.

Nurse practice act

RCW ch. 18.79 (Nursing Care) ↗

Washington’s own license lookup

Washington DOH Provider Credential Search ↗

Washington splits by LICENCE TYPE rather than credential: a Washington single-state licence is verified through the DOH Provider Credential Search, while a multistate licence issued by another state is verified through Nursys. Note the board will not verify a credential that is pending, closed, or holding only a temporary practice permit — so a genuinely new hire on a temporary permit will not return a verification, which is a timing problem rather than a red flag.

Board of nursing

Washington State Board of Nursing (WABON) ↗

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 Washington

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 Washington. See the APRN and the compact guide, and confirm specifics with the Washington State Board of Nursing (WABON).

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 Washington.

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

Verifying a Washington nursing license

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

Travel assignments and telehealth in Washington

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

Renewal and continuing education

Renewal cycles, fees, and continuing-education requirements are set by the Washington State Board of Nursing (WABON) 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 Washington renewal guide. If your Washington license is multistate, keeping it renewed is what keeps your compact privilege active in every other compact state.