Washington RN licensure 2026: $143 fee, 3–5 weeks
Last reviewed: by Jayson Minagawa, BSN, RN
Washington licensure at a glance
| Board of nursing | Washington Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission |
| Endorsement fee | $143 |
| Processing time quoted | 3–5 weeks |
| Renewal cycle | Annually, by your birthday |
| Continuing education | 8 contact hours (2 on health equity) plus 96 practice hours every year |
| Fingerprinting | Required if out-of-state address or applying for multistate license |
Apply and check current fees at doh.wa.gov/licenses-permits-and-certificates/professions-new-renew-or-update/nursing-commission.
Washington renewal and licensing rows checked 2026-09-26 against nursing.wa.gov (1, 2), app.leg.wa.gov.
Washington RN license renewal: annually, by your birthday. Continuing education for Washington renewal: 8 contact hours (2 on health equity) plus 96 practice hours every year.
Same in all 51: licensing · renewal · discipline · international · CEUs · defence.
Washington required CE topics, and free courses for them
Can Washington nurses finish CE for free? Partly: 1 of the 2 required topics Washington names for RN or LPN renewal have a free course; Suicide prevention did not.
Washington renewal CE: Every year: 8 contact hours (at least 2 on health equity) plus 96 hours of active practice. Topics the Washington board names, checked Sep 2026:
- Health equity (incl. implicit bias): 2 contact hours · every year (every renewal) · RN/LPN/APRN. Source
Health equity training meeting WAC 246-12-800 to 830; must include implicit bias training
Courses for Washington nurses: Advancing Health Equity through Cultural Humility (2 h, free, account needed) - Suicide prevention: 6 contact hours · one-time, by the end of the first full year of licensure · RN/LPN. Source
Must be on the Department of Health suicide prevention model list
No free course found for Washington's version of this yet. - Opioid prescribing best practices (ARNP): 4 contact hours · one-time (first full CE reporting period after initial licensure) · APRN. Source
No free course found for Washington's version of this yet. - Pharmacotherapeutics (ARNP prescriptive authority): 15 contact hours · every 2-year ARNP renewal · APRN. Source
No free course found for Washington's version of this yet.
Every free course, with filters: free CEUs for Washington nurses.
Compact status: Not a compact state
Washington issues no multistate license. Whatever your compact license covers, Washington needs its own — apply before you agree a start date. Compact map.
Getting licensed in Washington
Endorsing into Washington runs through the Washington Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission at $143, quoted at 3–5 weeks, with no second NCLEX. Because Washington is outside the compact, travel assignments here need a Washington license in hand before you start — build the processing time into any contract start date you agree to.
Advanced practice in Washington
Whether an NP may prescribe independently in Washington is set by the Washington Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission and moves by legislative session. Check it before accepting an APRN role there.
Practice environment
Staffing ratios: Washington has no statutory nurse-to-patient ratio law. Staffing is governed by hospital policy and, where one exists, the collective bargaining agreement — so safe-staffing concerns are raised through the facility's chain of command and its staffing committee rather than through a state standard.
Annual hospital staffing-plan submission required; 2023 ratio law (HB 1357 family) tightening enforcement; WSNA union strength; Seattle tech-region wage pull lifts all specialties.
Common questions
Does Washington accept a compact nursing license?
No — Washington is not a Nurse Licensure Compact state, so a multistate license does not reach it. You need a Washington license of its own.
Endorsing a license into Washington: cost and wait?
$143 to the Washington Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission, which quotes 3–5 weeks. Nursys verifies electronically.
Who regulates Washington nursing?
The Washington Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission, at www.doh.wa.gov/LicensesPermitsandCertificates/NursingCommission.
Licensure in states bordering Washington
Idaho · Oregon · California · Alaska.
Related Washington guides
Washington RN salary data · travel nursing in Washington · compact license map · national licensing guide.