- Board of Registration in Nursing
On November 20, 2024, Governor Healey signed legislation adopting the Nurse Licensure Compact (“NLC”). There will be an implementation process which must occur before the NLC can become operational in Massachusetts.
The Board of Registration in Nursing (“Board”) expects this process to take approximately twelve (12) months. Please note: this one-year estimate does not include the time it will take to obtain FBI approval for federal background checks. As such, the Board will not be ready to issue multistate licenses until the implementation is complete. To implement participation into the NLC, several steps need to be taken so that the necessary changes to our processes can be fully supported. These steps include:
- The Board must amend its regulations.
- Information technology systems must be modified to accommodate, in part, the new licensure category.
- The Board must update its application process to reflect the ability to obtain a multi-state license, if qualified.
Continuous updates will be posted on the board website, and all stakeholders will be notified via email of the ongoing steps in the implementation process.
Of note: nurses who reside in other NLC states and hold a multistate license are not authorized to practice in Massachusetts until the NLC implementation is complete. However, nurses seeking reciprocal licensure can still take advantage of our expedited conditional approval process until full implementation of the NLC.