After years of advocacy from WSHA and its members, a bill (SSB 5499) allowing Washington to join the Multistate Nurse Licensure Compact (the Compact) was signed into law. The new law allows eligible nurses to practice in Compact states, either in person or remotely, with an active multistate license.
The Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission (NCQAC), to be renamed the Board of Nursing, will begin to allow nurses holding multistate compact license to practice in Washington on July 23, 2023. This means that nurses with active multistate licenses may begin working in the state on that date, without needing a Washington state nursing license.
Nurse employers will need to begin complying with new reporting and attestation requirements on Sept. 1, 2023. Acute care hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and other health care facilities must report to the NCQAC within 30 days of hire the names and licensure of nurses with a multistate license issued by another state and attest that those nurses have completed tasks required as a condition of their employment in Washington, including completion of Suicide Prevention Training and the NCQAC demographic data survey. For more information, see the NCQAC announcement from May 10, 2023. (Mary Storace)
