Yes as far as immigration status is concerned: L-2 spouses are employment-authorized incident to status. Nursing itself requires a state licence and usually an examination or endorsement process, which is separate from immigration and should be started early.
Immigration permission and licensure are two different gates
Hypothetical example: a Haldimand County controls designer accepts a multi-year L-1B commissioning role, and her husband, an Ontario registered nurse, wants to keep working. The immigration side is settled by his L-2 status: spouses of L-1 workers are authorized to work incident to status, and he can obtain an employment authorization document as convenient proof for hospital HR departments. The professional side is not.
Each state nursing board sets its own requirements for internationally educated nurses, often including a credential evaluation, English testing exemptions or requirements, and licensure by examination or endorsement; a health-care worker certification may also be required for certain occupations at the immigration stage. Those steps can take longer than the L-1B petition. Sequence them: identify the destination state, open the board application while the petition is pending, and treat the licence date as the earliest realistic start date.
Any children under 21 hold L-2 status and may attend school but cannot work. A first review should produce an immigration-document checklist and a licensing timetable, rather than treating one as proof of the other. Hypothetical example: an Ontario dental hygienist moves as an L-2 spouse and receives an offer from a U.S.
clinic. The clinic can review the L-2S admission record for work authorization, while the state board will require its own education, examination and licence materials before clinical duties begin. Obtain the board's written requirements, request school records early and set the start date only after both tracks allow the work.
If the principal's assignment ends early, the spouse's work authorization ends with the L-2 status, so the employment agreement should not assume a longer independent period.