Practice Agreement · RN
Registered Nurse Practice Agreement in Iowa
Iowa 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.
RNs (general licensure, not an ARNP) are not subject to physician-supervision or collaborative-agreement requirements in Iowa.
What a Registered Nurse practice agreement covers in Iowa
Governed by the Iowa 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 Iowa Code chapter 152. Iowa law does not require a supervision or collaboration 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
- Iowa Code § 155A.48statute
Authorizes collaborative pharmacy practice agreements between a pharmacist and a practitioner for patient care and drug therapy management services not otherwise permitted to a pharmacist by general licensure.
- Iowa Admin. Code r. 481-780.8(3)regulation
Limits a supervising physician to no more than five Physician Assistants supervised at the same time.
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 Iowa.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional — general RN licensure is never subject to physician supervision or a collaborative agreement in Iowa.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional corporation under Iowa Code Ch. 496C, or PLLC, for nursing services; non-clinical businesses an RN might own fall outside that regime and carry no ownership restriction.
Legal sources for these rules (2)
- Iowa Code Ch. 152 — Nursing
- Iowa Code Ch. 496C — Professional Corporationssecondary
About Iowa's rules
Iowa APRNs (NP/CRNA/CNM/CNS) may practice, diagnose, and independently prescribe (including controlled substances, with DEA/Board of Pharmacy registration) with no collaborative agreement required by the Board of Nursing — a voluntary agreement is permitted but optional. PAs remain supervised_only under a 5-PA-per-physician cap (Iowa Code Ch. 148C).
Other clinicians in Iowa: see the state overview.