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For registered nurses moving to Ohio

How to Transfer Your Nursing License to Ohio

Is Ohio a nurse compact state? Yes. Ohio is in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC): a nurse whose home state is a compact state and who holds its multistate license can work in Ohio without another license, and a nurse who lives in Ohio applies for the multistate license there. A nurse from a state outside the compact needs a Ohio license from the Ohio Board of Nursing, by endorsement for a nurse licensed in another state. (NCSBN, read 9 Nov 2026.)

Yes
Compact state
3,590
RN jobs in Ohio
$39.80
Median posted RN pay

What the Ohio Board of Nursing asks

Licensure by endorsement for a registered nurse licensed in another state, as the board's own page states it (read 9 Nov 2026).

Fee
A $75 non-refundable application fee paid online through eLicense, plus a state eLicense System Transaction Fee whose amount the instructions do not state.
Requirements
Completion of an RN pre-license nursing education program that qualified you for the NCLEX (shown in the Nursys report or a transcript); two contact hours of Category A continuing education on the Ohio Nurse Practice Act and Board rules; English proficiency test for certain foreign-educated applicants; and a BCI and FBI criminal records check required of all applicants.
Good to know
An application left incomplete for one year is void and the fee is forfeited.
“A $75 non-refundable fee must be paid online when you submit your application, or your application”

From the Ohio Board of Nursing's own page, read 9 Nov 2026: dam.assets.ohio.gov (source: Ohio Board of Nursing). Fees change: the board's page on the day you apply is the one that counts.

The steps

What every move takes; the board's page above says what it asks in each.

  1. Check whether your home state and the new state are both in the Nurse Licensure Compact: if both are and you keep living in your home state, your multistate license already lets you work there.
  2. If you are moving your home to the new state and it is a compact state, apply for its multistate license; if it is outside the compact, apply to its board of nursing for a license by endorsement.
  3. Have your current license verified to the new board, through Nursys where your state takes part in it.
  4. Complete the background check the board asks for (most ask for fingerprints) and any state exam or course it names.
  5. Pay the board's fee and, where the board offers one, ask for a temporary permit so you can start work while the application is processed.

What Ohio law requires

  • Nurse staffing committee or plan (in effect from 2008)

    Ohio hospitals must convene a nursing care committee, at least half direct care nurses, that recommends the nursing services staffing plan (section 3727.52).

    “Each hospital shall convene a hospital-wide nursing care committee not later than ninety days after the effective date of this section or, if the hospital is not treating patients on the effective date of this section, ninety days after the hospital begins to treat patients.” Ohio Rev. Code § 3727.51(A) (source: Ohio Rev. Code § 3727.51(A))

From Ohio's own code or health department, read 9 Nov 2026. What Ohio's hospitals state for their units is on its nurse-to-patient ratio page, and every state's law is on the ratio hub.

Nurses alerts

Nurses in Ohio: new openings every week

A weekly email with the newest Nurses openings in Ohio, taken from the employers' own careers sites. Free, stop anytime.

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Nursing jobs in Ohio today

3,590 registered nurse and 823 LPN jobs are open in Ohio on this board, read every night from each employer's own job board.

Transferring a nursing license to Ohio: common questions

Is Ohio a nurse compact state?

Yes. Ohio is in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC): a nurse whose home state is a compact state and who holds its multistate license can work in Ohio without another license, and a nurse who lives in Ohio applies for the multistate license there. A nurse from a state outside the compact needs a Ohio license from the Ohio Board of Nursing, by endorsement for a nurse licensed in another state. (NCSBN, read 9 Nov 2026.)

How do I transfer my nursing license to Ohio?

If your home state is another compact state and you keep living there, your multistate license already lets you work in Ohio. If you move to Ohio, apply to the Ohio Board of Nursing for its multistate license. If your license is from a state outside the compact, apply to the Ohio Board of Nursing for a license by endorsement ($75 by its own page): have your license verified through Nursys, complete the background check, and pay the fee.

How do I transfer an LPN or LVN license to Ohio?

The same way: the compact covers LPN/VNs too, so a multistate LPN license from a compact home state works in Ohio; otherwise apply for a license by endorsement to the Ohio Board of Nursing. Its own page states the LPN fee, which differs from the RN fee above. LPN jobs in Ohio.

How much do registered nurses make in Ohio?

Open registered nurse jobs in Ohio that post an hourly rate pay $35.99–$42.36 an hour in the middle half, median $39.80 (306 jobs from 75 employers on this board today).

Does Ohio have a nurse-to-patient ratio law?

Not fixed ratios: Ohio hospitals must convene a nursing care committee, at least half direct care nurses, that recommends the nursing services staffing plan (section 3727.52). (Ohio Rev. Code § 3727.51(A)) The law's own words are on this page.

Do employers in Ohio offer relocation assistance?

318 open healthcare jobs in Ohio offer relocation help in their own posting today, each quoting the offer (a set amount, reimbursement or a package); ask for the terms in writing before you accept.

Who is hiring registered nurses in Ohio?

By open jobs on this board today: Cleveland Clinic (415), Mercy Health (Ohio and Kentucky) (320), OhioHealth (247), University Hospitals (224), The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (115), Advantis Medical (112). Every RN job in Ohio.

Sources and method

The compact status is NCSBN's map on the day read. The board's rules are its own page's words, shown only where the page states them; a sentence of it is checked against the page every week, and a change is read again. The jobs and pay are the registered nurse jobs open on this board in Ohio.

  1. NCSBN Nurse Licensure Compact map (nursecompact.com), read 9 Nov 2026, published 9 Nov 2026
  2. Ohio Board of Nursing: licensure by endorsement, read 9 Nov 2026; checked again every week for the sentence quoted, published 9 Nov 2026
  3. CareJobs.Now job board: open jobs read every night from each employer's own careers site

Cite this page

CareJobs.Now. (2026). How to Transfer Your Nursing License to Ohio. Data as of 9 Nov 2026. https://carejobs.now/transfer-nursing-license/ohio

How the board counts