Connecticut Nurses Can Now Practice Across State Lines
Connecticut nurses are now eligible to receive multistate nursing licenses, letting them practice across state lines. With new opportunities come new risks, however. While a multistate license offers greater flexibility and mobility, it also exposes nurses to additional regulatory scrutiny and potential disciplinary actions from multiple state boards.
If you’re a nurse practicing in multiple states and you’re under investigation for a potential license violation, you should contact our Professional License Defense attorneys. Our team understands how to deal with nursing boards and protect the license you worked so hard for. Call the LLF National Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or fill out our contact form.
Connecticut Joins Nurse Licensure Compact
Connecticut is the most recent state to join the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), a multistate agreement that allows nurses licensed in a participating state to practice in another. Specifically, registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) with a Connecticut license will now be able to apply for multistate privileges. Connecticut is the 43rd state to join the NLC.
In general, joining the NLC is a positive step forward for a state’s healthcare system—especially a small state like Connecticut, which faces shortages of qualified nurses and healthcare professionals. The goal, according to Connecticut governor Ned Lamont, is to increase the pool of nursing candidates.
The Potential Risks of a Multistate License
Having the ability to practice in several states is beneficial to nurses who travel often, but it can also come with some downsides. If you get accused of misconduct or rule violation as a nurse, it puts both your home state license and your multistate license in jeopardy.
Your multistate license is only valid if your home state license is in good standing. If you’re facing an investigation from your board of nursing, the board in the state where you practice has the right to launch an investigation as well.
When you have a multistate license, you’re subject to the Nurse Practice Act or relevant rules of the state you practice in, even if it’s not the state that issued your original license. As a Connecticut nurse who gets a multistate license, for example, and goes to work in New Jersey under the NLC, you must follow New Jersey’s Nurse Practice Act.
What a Multistate Nursing License Means for Discipline
Essentially, a multistate nursing license means that you very likely have more than one state board of nursing to contend with if there’s ever a complaint against you. These complaints are more common than you might think, too. An error on a patient’s chart, an alert generated by a facility’s drug audit, a patient complaint about your demeanor, speaking too loudly about a patient at a public nurse’s station…these incidents could seem minor, but they can quickly lead to a formal investigation and discipline.
If you are a nurse with a multistate license and accused of wrongdoing by one or more boards of nursing, you shouldn’t try to handle it yourself. Dealing with one state licensing board is complicated enough—the administrative procedures are complex, opaque, and not designed to work in nurses’ favor. If you’re dealing with more than one state, the complexity just grows.
The LLF National Law Firm works nationwide with licensed healthcare professionals when their credentials are in jeopardy. Our Professional License Defense attorneys represent nurses in every state, and we work to defend your license and reputation. Call 888-535-3686 or send us your information via our confidential contact form to get started.