Guam last week became the first US territory to enact the Nurse Licensure Compact, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing reported. Guam Gov. Lourdes “Lou” Leon Guerrero signed the NLC into law last Friday.
Presently, 35 states have enacted the NLC. The most recent was Indiana, which joined the compact in July. Alabama joined the compact in January 2020 and New Jersey partially implemented the NLC in March 2020.
The NLC 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 territory/state and other NLC states. Currently, 35 states have enacted the NLC.
However, Guam nurses will not be able to get a multistate license until the NLC is fully implemented in 2022.