Nursing Law Report (Report 1)
The process, as currently outlined, involves providing NPs twenty-four hour notice as well as providing them the opportunity to review the board’s rules and regulations and ensure that the necessary mechanisms are in place to meet the requirements. Please visit the North Carolina Board of Nursing website to view the standardized review form.
Supervising physicians are invited to attend the on-site review and will receive a copy of the results.
“Random compliance reviews offer nurse practitioners an opportunity to work with staff members from the State Board of Nursing and the State Medical Board to ensure that they are in compliance with all rules and regulations governing their practice. Standardized review forms that will be used to conduct the compliance review have been mailed to each nurse practitioner, they are also available on the boards websites,” said David Kalbacker, spokesman for the N.C. Board of Nursing.&rdquo
To see the complete listing of expectations, please visit the website
The broad categories of expectations are listed below:
- Approval & practice parameters for nurse practitioners
- Nurse practitioner registration
- Process for approval to practice
- Education & certification requirements for registration as a nurse practitioner
- Continuing education
- Prescribing authority
- Quality assurance standards for a collaborative practice agreement
- Indications of quality improvement process
- Method of identification
- General Comments
For a full description of each of these categories, please visit the North Carolina Board of Nursing website
This practice audits are occurring in other states as well. The Virginia Board of Nurses is conducting random audits of specific regulatory requirements of licensed nurse practitioners. Sections 18 VAC 90-30-105 and 18 VAC 90-30-120 (Regulations Governing the Licensure of Nurse Practitioners) requires active licensees to maintain evidence of:
- certain continued competency requirements,
- a written protocol jointly developed by the collaborating physician and the licensed nurse practitioner.
As part of this regulation, the Board is required to perform a random audit of 1% of licensed nurse practitioners to determine compliance. The audit will cover 2004-2006 documentation.
The Virginia Board of Nurses and the Virginia Board of Medicine recently adopted a guidance on Protocol Requirements for Licensed Nurse Practitioners (Guidance document:90-56) [which is attached]