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Open a jurisdiction to review its dated requirements and official sources. Use the compact tables to compare which states participate.

Nurse state crossing · Massachusetts licensing · NLC status table · LPN/LVN list

MA

RN work list: Massachusetts

What an RN has to do to work in Massachusetts. Pick where you live and the page shows your route.

Massachusetts has enacted the compact but it is not in effect yet, so a multistate licence does not cover work here. You need a Massachusetts licence; the steps are below.

Massachusetts: Compact enacted, not yet in effect

NCSBN · nursecompact.com · checked 15 Oct 2026

Source quotation
Massachusetts* No Date to be determined

nursecompact.com · NCSBN

Route B: get a Massachusetts licence by endorsement

For everyone else. Each step comes from Massachusetts’s own licensing sources; tick it off as you go.

  1. Required
    Yes
    State check
    Yes
    FBI check
    No
    Fingerprints
    No
    Vendor
    Massachusetts DCJIS criminal offender record information (CORI) check plus a Sex Offender Registry check, through the Board of Registration in Nursing
    Conditions & source context

    Since December 4, 2023 the Board runs a Massachusetts CORI check on every nursing applicant, by exam or reciprocity, before licensure or an NCLEX Authorization to Test, and checks the Sex Offender Registry. The CORI forms are in the online application; the CORI Acknowledgement Form must be signed before a notary or a Board employee. Fingerprints (state and FBI) apply to multistate licenses under M.G.L. c.112A § 18, not to a single-state Massachusetts license.

    State Board of Nursing · mass.gov · checked 14 Oct 2026

    Source quotation
    all applicants for nursing licensure and advanced practice authorization will be required to have a Massachusetts criminal history background check completed

    mass.gov · State Board of Nursing

    • RN

      Statutory regulatory minimum hours
      15
      Alternative
      Board may accept training and experience in lieu of continuing education.
      Mandated topics

      • Diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer disease and dementia

        Frequency
        One-time course
        Scope
        Nurses who serve adult populations

    • LPN

      Statutory regulatory minimum hours
      15
      Alternative
      Board may accept training and experience in lieu of continuing education.
      Mandated topics

      • Diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer disease and dementia

        Frequency
        One-time course
        Scope
        Nurses who serve adult populations
    Conditions & source context

    Statutory floor, not a verified current Board CE total. Both statutes permit accepted training/experience instead of CE and limit the cognitive-impairment course to adult-serving nurses.

    State statute · malegislature.gov · checked 9 Oct 2026

    Source quotation
    Said regulations shall provide that the minimum number of hours required shall not be less than fifteen hours.

    malegislature.gov · State statute

  3. Our Massachusetts record has nothing sourced for RNs on: eligibility, where to apply, the fee, licence verification, temporary permits, any jurisprudence exam, other state-specific requirements, processing time. Get those from the board directly: mass.gov.

    NCSBN · ncsbn.org · checked 9 Oct 2026

Built from the Massachusetts nursing licensing record and the compact status table. A step appears only when the record has a sourced answer for it; anything else points to the board. Informational only: confirm with the board of nursing before you apply.