It finally happened. With Gov. Jay Inslee signing Senate Bill 5499 Thursday, Washington state hospitals and care centers will be allowed to hire qualified, licensed nurses from other states. There are already 37 other states in the multistate Nurse Licensure Compact, as well as Guam and the Virgin Islands.

This common-sense, patient-centered, worker-rights’ idea that Washington Policy Center and some lawmakers have proposed for years had a bipartisan bunch of lawmakers on board House and Senate legislation this year. That helped SB 5499’s successful passage, despite remaining opposition from some unions. COVID-19 realities also played in, I think. 

Joining the compact gives our state a tool to combat our nursing shortage and help patient-access concerns, especially in pandemic times. It will ease some of the burdens on nurses. It will definitely help military spouses in our state who are licensed in another compact state and ready to put their skills to use. 

Finally, being a member of the compact could help attract nurses to move to Washington state, which has been named the best state in which to nurse. We continually rank among the top in pay for nurses, too.

Good work lawmakers. Good signature, governor.

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Read more about the benefits of joining the Nurse Licensure Compact here.