Practice Agreement · RN
Registered Nurse Practice Agreement in Maine
Maine 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 APRN) are not subject to a physician-supervision or collaborative-practice-agreement requirement in Maine. RNs practice under a physician's orders, standing orders, or delegation, consistent with the Maine Nurse Practice Act — categorically different from the APRN frameworks above.
What a Registered Nurse practice agreement covers in Maine
Governed by the Maine State Board of Nursing. Each numbered item is a statutory requirement the agreement must satisfy.
The Registered Nurse ("RN") shall practice under the standing orders, protocols, or delegation of the Physician. Maine law does not require a Board-filed 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, protocol, or delegation.
- The agreement on file also carries 2 scope, 1 education, 2 registration clauses, generated in the document itself.
Statutes and rules cited
- 32 M.R.S. § 2102(2-A)statute
24-month post-certification supervision/collaboration requirement for certified nurse practitioners, pending Board of Nursing rulemaking under § 2205-B(4-A).
- 32 M.R.S. § 2205-B(4-A)statute
Directs the Maine State Board of Nursing to adopt new APRN practice standards to replace the flat 24-month supervision rule; rules may not be adopted before May 1, 2026.
- 32 M.R.S. § 3270-Gstatute
Physician associate scope-of-practice and Collaborative Agreement / Practice Agreement requirements under the Board of Licensure in Medicine.
- 32 M.R.S. § 2594-Fstatute
Mirror-image physician assistant scope-of-practice and agreement requirements under the Board of Osteopathic Licensure.
- 32 M.R.S. § 13842statute
Pharmacist qualifications to enter a collaborative drug therapy management agreement.
- 32 M.R.S. § 13843statute
Mandatory content of a collaborative drug therapy management agreement, the initial 3-month monitoring-only period, and the requirement to submit the agreement to the Board of Pharmacy and the prescriber's licensing board before commencement.
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 Maine; they administer medications pursuant to the orders of a licensed prescriber.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional — general RN licensure has never been subject to a physician collaboration/supervision agreement in Maine.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Non-licensee ownership permitted — General RN licensure does not implicate the physician/APRN professional-entity questions above — non-clinical businesses an RN might own fall outside that framework and carry no ownership restriction confirmed in this pass.
Legal sources for these rules (1)
- 32 M.R.S. Title 32, Chapter 31 — Maine Nurse Practice Act
About Maine's rules
Maine's provider categories follow different independence models: NPs graduate to full practice after 24 months of registered (not written-agreement) supervision; PAs graduate after 4,000 documented clinical hours but still need a lighter 'practice agreement' afterward; CNMs/CNSs appear independent from initial licensure; and CRNAs remain physician/dentist-accountable except in critical-access/rural hospitals. Do not assume a single APRN framework applies uniformly.
Other clinicians in Maine: see the state overview.