The Nurse Compact Licensure (NCL) is similar to a driver's license, which allows nurses licensed in one compact state to practice in other NCL states without applying for additional nursing licensure. The compact promotes public health and safety, provides increased access to care as nurses with greater ease of practice can remotely monitor patients in other NCL participating states. The COVID-19 pandemic in New York was a wake-up call; for months, nurses in the state worked severely shorthanded before an emergency licensing waiver was granted. Then suddenly, we were inundated with nurses from every state across the United States. New York, the epicenter of the pandemic and the first state to be severely affected by the onslaught of the virus, had no NCL in place. Hence our already short nursing workforce has to bite the bullet and work tirelessly at times one nurse caring for 6-7 within an intensive care unit (ICU) setting. The Affordable Care Act has heralded the call for increased access to care; having nurses practice using a multi-state license would significantly improve this feat. Nurses working within the tristate area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut) could be utilized in individual state health emergencies. Nurses could be deployed from neighboring states to meet these temporary challenges. The chronic shortage of nurses demands that we use our resources nationally to the best of our ability. In this technological day and age, nurses could monitor patients remotely from other states through telemedicine. To date, nurses without NCL cannot monitor patients in any other state except where they are currently licensed. With so many states facing this pandemic and more infectious diseases looming on the horizon, it would be an excellent move to enact the NCL to attract nurses from other NCL states speedy access to effectuate a change in our public's health and wellbeing.