Practice Agreement · RN

Registered Nurse Practice Agreement in Minnesota

Minnesota 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.

Practice authorityIndependent practice
Written agreementNo agreement required
What Minnesota calls itNo instrument required
Governing boardMinnesota Board of Nursing
Research date2026-09-03 · clauses 2026-09-03

General RN licensure (§ 148.171, subd. 20) carries no physician-supervision or collaborative-agreement requirement — a categorically different concept from APRN's advanced/prescribing scope. RNs execute orders from authorized prescribers rather than practicing under a supervision relationship themselves.

What a Registered Nurse practice agreement covers in Minnesota

Governed by the Minnesota Board of Nursing. Each numbered item is a statutory requirement the agreement must satisfy.

  1. The Registered Nurse ("RN") shall practice under the orders, standing orders, or delegation of the Physician, consistent with Minn. Stat. ch. 148. Minnesota 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.

  2. The agreement on file also carries 2 scope, 2 education, 2 registration clauses, generated in the document itself.

Statutes and rules cited

  1. Minn. Stat. § 148.211, subd. 1cstatute

    2,080-hour postgraduate collaborative-practice requirement for nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists before independent practice.

  2. Minn. Stat. § 147A.09statute

    Physician assistant practice-agreement requirement and annual review by a physician with knowledge of the PA's practice.

  3. Minn. R. 6310.3100regulation

    Board of Nursing continuing education hour requirements for license renewal.

  4. Minn. Stat. § 151.01, subd. 27statute

    Definition of pharmacist collaborative practice and collaborative practice agreement, authorizing a pharmacist to initiate, manage, and modify drug therapy under a written agreement with a practitioner.

  5. Minn. Stat. § 151.37statute

    Practitioners who may enter a collaborative practice agreement with a pharmacist, and pharmacist protocol/documentation obligations when initiating, managing, modifying, or discontinuing drug therapy.

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 Minnesota; they execute orders from an authorized prescriber (physician, APRN, PA, dentist).

Written agreement

Not required

Unconditional — general RN licensure is never subject to a collaborative practice agreement in Minnesota, unlike the APRN categories above.

Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)

Licensee-only ownership required — Professional firm under Minn. Stat. ch. 319B — RN licensure rides on the same 'registered nursing' § 319B.02, subd. 19 category as the APRN roles.

Legal sources for these rules (1)

About Minnesota's rules

H.F. 1794 repealed the NP/CNS 2,080-hour postgraduate collaborative-agreement rule (Minn. Stat. § 148.211, subd. 1c) effective August 1, 2026 — already in force. PA remains CONDITIONAL under a separate, still-active 2,080-hour rule (§ 147A.02(c)); 2025 reform bills (H.F. 89/S.F. 1083) to loosen it are pending, not confirmed enacted.

Other clinicians in Minnesota: see the state overview.