Practice Agreement · RN
Registered Nurse Practice Agreement in Alabama
Alabama law does not require a Registered Nurse to hold a named agreement with a physician. Practices still use one to define the working relationship; here is what it covers and what the state does require.
General RN licensure (Ala. Code Title 34, Ch. 21; Ala. Admin. Code r. 610-X-6-.02) does not require a physician-supervision or collaborative-practice agreement to hold or maintain the license — RN scope is inherently order/protocol-driven in clinical settings, but that is practice-setting policy, not a state-mandated physician-supervision-agreement regime like the APRN tiers above.
What a Registered Nurse practice agreement covers in Alabama
Governed by the Alabama Board of Nursing. Each numbered item is a statutory requirement the agreement must satisfy.
The Registered Nurse ("RN") shall practice under the orders, standing orders, or delegation of the Physician, consistent with general licensure under the Alabama Nurse Practice Act. Alabama law does not require a collaborative agreement for this Registered Nurse's general scope of practice; the Physician shall instead be available to the Registered Nurse for consultation regarding clinical and patient care issues arising under any order or delegation.
- The agreement on file also carries 2 scope, 2 education, 2 registration clauses, generated in the document itself.
Statutes and rules cited
- Ala. Code § 34-23-77statute
Authorizes a Collaborative Practice Agreement between an Alabama-licensed pharmacist and physician; requires the agreement to be submitted to and approved by both the Board of Pharmacy and the Board of Medical Examiners before it is effective.
- Ala. Admin. Code r. 680-X-2-.44board rule
Alabama Board of Pharmacy rule implementing Collaborative Drug Therapy Management Agreements: required terms, eligibility, quality assurance, renewal, and limitations.
Terms it has to carry
Ratio, proximity, chart review, meeting and prescribing terms the agreement has to carry, from the state's supervision rules.
Proximity
Not codified — left to the agreement
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified — left to the agreement
Meeting cadence
Not codified — left to the agreement
Prescriptive authority
Covered by the practice agreement · no controlled-substance authority
RNs do not have independent prescriptive authority in Alabama.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional — general RN licensure is never subject to a physician-supervision or collaborative-practice-agreement requirement.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Non-licensee ownership permitted — No RN-specific ownership restriction was found — RNs are not typically practice-entity owners/operators of medical practices in a way implicating CPOM.
Legal sources for these rules (2)
- Ala. Code Title 34, Ch. 21 — Nurses
- Ala. Admin. Code r. 610-X-6-.02 — Standards of Practice
About Alabama's rules
Alabama is a restrictive state: PA/CRNP/CNM all require an indefinite collaborative agreement with no independence pathway, and share a combined 360 hours/week (9 FTE) supervision cap per physician. CRNA's status is a genuine ambiguity — statute requires an 'immediately available' physician/dentist/podiatrist, but no filed agreement or ratio regime exists like CRNP/CNM's; flagged for legal review.
Other clinicians in Alabama: see the state overview.