Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee signed the Nurse Licensure Compact into law on April 21, making Washington the 40th jurisdiction to enact the compact, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc. reported. One backer of the bill, however, said the legislation could result in fewer travel nurses.
The compact allows registered nurses and licensed practical/vocational nurses to have one multistate license with the ability to practice in person or via telehealth in both their home state or other licensure compact states.
“Washington has critical and urgent needs for more nurses,” said state Sen. Mark Mullett, D-Issaquah, who sponsored the legislation to enact the compact.
“We’ve got some of the highest pay of all the states in the nurse compact, so I expect many of the best nurses in the country will want to come to work here,” Mullet said. “The result will be better care for patients and moving away from temporary traveling nurses and towards hiring more full-time nurses in our local communities.”
Although the Nurse Licensure Compact has been enacted in Washington, an implementation process must be completed before its residents will be able to apply for a multistate license and before nurses from other licensure compact states will be able to practice in Washington. The implementation date has not been set.
