Position on Reciprocity in Louisiana

Information for displaced Licensed Louisiana Nurses due to Hurricane Katrina.

For licensed nurses from the State of Louisiana who are temporarily displaced and residing in Texas due to Hurricane Katrina who would like to obtain a temporary and/or permanent license in Texas, you must do the following:

  1. If you have never held a Texas license in the past, you must file a temporary license/endorsement application paper form. At the top of the application please write "Hurricane Katrina Displaced".

    You will be instructed to attach a $200 fee, 2" X 2" passport type photo and two fingerprint cards to the application. We are making the following exceptions:

    1. If you are unable to pay the $200 endorsement fee at this time, you may attach a letter to the application stating that you are unable to pay the fee and agree to pay the fee prior to receiving your permanent license.
    2. You do not have to attach the photo nor the fingerprint cards. Upon receipt of your application, we will send you a form and two fingerprint cards. Please complete the form and attach the photo and fingerprint cards and return to our office as soon as possible.
    3. Eventually you will need to request verification from all nursing jurisdictions where you hold or have held a nursing license. We know that the Louisiana Boards of Nursing are not able to respond at this time but you will still need the verification. If the Louisiana Boards of Nursing are not up within the 120 Day time frame of your temporary license, we will make a one-time extension.

    Once the Board of Nurse Examiners receives the application, we will mail a temporary license good for up to 120 days.

  2. If the fee issue stated in A above is not a problem, you can go to our website indicated above and file the application online, pay the fee and receive a temporary license within ten working days. The link for the online application can be found on the left side of our home page. This will cut several days from the processing time and hopefully allow you to obtain work quicker.

    NOTE: Once we issue a temporary license, you and/or your employer can verify a temporary license online and you are permitted to begin work at that time. The Board does not require that you possess the paper form to begin work.

  3. If you have held a Texas license in the past, you will need to reactivate your previous Texas license. Please contact our staff at (512)305-6809 for this procedure.

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