Practice Agreement · NP
Nurse Practitioner Practice Agreement in Connecticut
Connecticut law does not require a Nurse Practitioner 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.
After the 3-year/2,000-hour threshold, an APRN may practice independently — alone or with any licensed health care provider — one of the more accessible full-practice-authority pathways nationally. Only the prescriptive component of collaboration must be in writing (§20-87a(2)(A)); the underlying collaboration relationship itself need not be a signed contract.
Independent practice requires: ≥3 years licensed and practicing as an APRN (prior collaboration with an out-of-state physician may count toward this, per §20-87a(2)(B)); ≥2,000 hours performing advanced-practice nursing activities in collaboration with a physician during that period (§20-87a(3)).
What a Nurse Practitioner practice agreement covers in Connecticut
Governed by the Connecticut Board of Examiners for Nursing and the Connecticut Commission of Pharmacy. Each numbered item is a statutory requirement the agreement must satisfy.
For the first three (3) years and at least two thousand (2,000) hours of practice following the Nurse Practitioner's initial Connecticut licensure as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, the Nurse Practitioner shall practice in collaboration with the Physician, as required by Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-87a. Once the Nurse Practitioner satisfies both thresholds, the Nurse Practitioner may elect independent practice by notifying the Connecticut Department of Public Health, after which no ongoing collaborative agreement or physician relationship is required.
During the collaborative period, the written collaborative agreement shall specify which Schedule II and Schedule III controlled substances the Nurse Practitioner may prescribe and shall include a method for reviewing patient outcomes from the therapeutics, corrective measures, and laboratory or diagnostic procedures the Nurse Practitioner prescribes, dispenses, or administers.
- The agreement on file also carries 1 scope, 1 education, 1 registration clauses, generated in the document itself.
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
before the 3-year/2,000-hour independent-practice threshold: Available remotely (no on-site requirement)
'Collaboration' means a mutually agreed relationship addressing consultation/referral, coverage in the APRN's absence, a method to review patient outcomes, and disclosure to the patient — no on-site presence or mile/minute radius is codified (§20-87a(2)(A)).
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
Separate prescribing terms required · controlled substances permitted
The written prescriptive collaboration must also provide 'a method to review patient outcomes,' including review of the medical therapeutics, labs, and diagnostics the APRN prescribes — no percentage or review frequency is codified.
Written agreement
Required
Required only during the pre-independence collaboration period. Documentation of having met the 3-year/2,000-hour threshold must be retained for at least 3 years after electing independent practice (§20-87a(3)).
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional Service Corporation under § 33-182a — nurses (which includes APRNs) are an independently eligible licensee category and may wholly own a PSC without physician participation.
Ownership eligibility is unaffected by whether the APRN has reached independent-practice status under §20-87a(3).
About Connecticut's rules
NP, CNS, and CRNA are all licensed as a single 'advanced practice registered nurse' category (§20-94a) sharing an identical 3-year/2,000-hour collaboration-to-independence pathway (§20-87a); CT does not statutorily distinguish PMHNP or CNS scope from general NP. CNMs are licensed separately (Ch. 377), with no written collaborative-agreement requirement. No provider type below has a codified supervision ratio cap, chart-review percentage, or on-site proximity radius outside CRNA's surgery-specific carve-out.
Other clinicians in Connecticut: see the state overview.