The Nurse Practice Act - A Closer Look

The Nurse Practice Act is a set of state laws thatavailable for easy reference.
govern specific aspects of the nursing profession.Regulations are generally published in a compilation
The statutes are generally grouped with a chapter ofknown as the administrative code. They should also
state laws, referred to in its entirety as the Nursebe available from the same sources. Some of the
Practice Act "the Act". The Act aims to protect theboard's written opinions may be public record, so you
public from an unsafe nurse by ensuring minimummay want to give the boards' office a call to
levels of performance.determine if these documents exist and how to
Individual state legislatures' determine the Actsobtain them.
content, so "the Act" may differ a bit fromBeing Licensed in Multiple States
state-to-state. Nonetheless, many acts addressMost states require that a nurse obtains a license to
common issues such as establishing the compositionpractice nursing by the state in which they are
and scope of authority for the board of nursing;practicing, with an obligation to abide by that state's
defining the practice of professional, practical orlaws and regulations, as the condition of accepting a
vocational nursing and advanced practice nursing;license in the state.
setting the requirements to obtain a nursing license;As a result, in most situations, the travel nurse is
limiting use of the title, "nurse" and listing the groundsbound by the Act of the state in which the deed
for discipline against a nurse's license.under review occurred. Nevertheless, if one state
And to encourage consistency across state lines, theshould discipline a nurse for an act that occurred in its
National Council of State Boards of Nursing developedborders, the discipline itself (regardless of the
a Model Nursing Practice Act, available atgrounds) may serve as the basis for additional
Individual State Boards of Nursing can exercise adiscipline in each of the other states where the nurse
great deal influence over the Act, although they don'tis licensed. Consequently, a nurse may be disciplined in
author "the Act" because they are the administrativemultiple states stemming from one incident.
agency charged with implementing and interpretingSome states have entered into a Nurse Licensure
"the Act" within the scope of authority granted toCompact, which permits a licensed nurse to practice
them by the legislature.nursing in other states without obtaining a separate
A nurse needs to be knowledgeable about their legallicense. Visit the National Council of State Boards of
obligations associated with "the Act". In addition, "theNursing at the domain listed earlier for more
Act" may allow a licensed nurse to seek the boards'information.
written opinion regarding "the Acts" interpretation,The nurse must abide by the laws of the state
which the nurse may consider when evaluating legalwhere he or she is practicing, so complaints about
options.the travel nurse would be processed by the state
On the other hand, not all laws governing the practicewhere the alleged violation occurred, but would also
of nursing are found in "the Act" or its' regulations.be reported to the travel nurse's home state.
Legal obligations common to various licensedLicensed nurses should be familiar with the Nurse
healthcare professionals will apply to nurses, such asPractice Act of whatever state or states they hold a
confidentiality requirements or mandatory reportinglicense. The maxim "Ignorance of the law is no
of suspected child abuse but these obligations areexcuse" clearly applies in this arena. Remember,
generally found outside "the Act".nurses can be held accountable for compliance with all
Most public libraries should have a copy of the statelaws governing their performance.
statute books which should have a copy eachAll nurses are strongly encouraged to obtain and
individual states act. However, be sure to get a copyreview a copy of the current act(s) governing their
of the most current version and check for the latestpractice and to become knowledgeable about the
amendments that may not be included in the formatboards overseeing those acts.
you're using. It also wouldn't hurt every licensed nurseThis article may be reproduced only in its entirety.
to have a personal up-to-date copy of "the Act"