The Nurse Licensure Compact: Who Benefits Most From Multistate Licenses?

David Keepnews, PhD, JD, RN, FAAN, executive director, Washington State Nurses Association, said his state has taken no action to become a compact state due to several areas of concern.

“Among the most important, the compact carries no registration requirement for nurses coming into the state, so we would have no way of tracking the nursing workforce,” Keepnews said. “We’re also concerned that nurses coming into our state would not have to meet any of the continuing education requirements for Washington State, which could cause gaps in knowledge of how nursing is practiced here.”