Texas is changing that manner in which it regulates the Multistate Licensure Privilege for nurses. The enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (eNLC) will soon be implemented. The Texas Board of Nursing (BON) announced that “within the next six months, the Compact Commission will determine the implementation date of the new Compact.”
The new Compact’s purpose is to allow nurses to have mobility across state borders and to increase access to care while maintaining public protection. The eNLC is repealing and replacing the existing Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), which has been in place since 1999. As with the old Compact, the new Compact will allow for registered nurses (RNs), licensed vocational nurses (VNs), and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) the ability to practice in their home state and other eNLC states under one multistate license.
Under the eNLC, a nurse licensed in Texas will not have multistate licensure privilege in states that have not yet enacted the eNLC. However, a Texas licensee who holds an unencumbered multistate license will have an unencumbered multistate licensure privilege in all states that have adopted the eNLC. Visit here for a list of states that have signed on to the eNLC.
While similar, the eNLC will affect some nurses’ ability to utilize the multistate licensure privilege currently available under the NLC.
The most significant changes under the new Compact are:
- Texas licensure applicants who have been convicted of a felony, or plead guilty to a felony, will not be eligible for a multistate license under eNLC.
- For applicants who have a felony on their record, if they are determined to be eligible for a license in Texas they will receive a single state license to practice in Texas only. In such cases, if a nurse wants to practice in another state he or she will have to apply for a single state license to practice in the other state.
- Any current licensee who receives a felony conviction, or pleads guilty to a felony after the effective date of the new compact, if still eligible to retain their license in Texas, will lose the multistate licensure privilege and retain only a single state license going forward.
- Past felony convictions: Any current Texas licensee who has a past felony conviction or pleads guilty to a felony prior to the effective date of the new Compact, if eligible to retain their license in Texas, will be eligible to maintain a multistate licensure privilege under the new compact.
Protecting Your Texas Nursing License
BERTOLINO LLP helps professionals, like you, keep their licenses when those licenses are under attack by a state agency or board. If you have a licensing issue or are under investigation by the Texas Board of Nursing, your license, reputation, and career are on the line. We understand that you have worked for years to become a licensed nurse in Texas. Our law firm can help you.
Contact us today or call (512) 476-5757 and schedule a case evaluation.
We represent licensed professionals across the entire State of Texas. Our honest, experienced attorneys will fight aggressively on behalf of your license and reputation.
Follow BERTOLINO LLP on Facebook!
View free videos & subscribe to our YouTube channel!
Get a copy of Tony R. Bertolino’s #1 Bestselling book When Your License is Under Attack: A Survival Guide for Texas Professionals in hardcover or for Kindle here.
Call or text (512) 476-5757 or complete a Case Evaluation form
