Practice Agreement · RN
Registered Nurse Practice Agreement in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania 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 physician-supervision or collaborative-agreement requirements in Pennsylvania under the Professional Nursing Law — RN practice is independent within the scope of professional nursing, distinct from the CRNP/CNM/CNS collaborative-agreement regimes above.
What a Registered Nurse practice agreement covers in Pennsylvania
Governed by the Pennsylvania State 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. Unlike the Collaborative Agreement required of Certified Registered Nurse Practitioners, Pennsylvania law does not require a written 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
- 63 P.S. § 390-9.3statute
Pharmacy Act provision authorizing a pharmacist to enter into a collaborative agreement with a physician to manage drug therapy in a non-institutional setting.
- 49 Pa. Code § 27.302regulation
Required contents and administration of a pharmacist collaborative agreement for management of 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 Pennsylvania; they administer medications only as ordered by an authorized prescriber.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional — general RN licensure is never subject to physician supervision or a collaborative agreement, unlike the APRN/PA categories above.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Same physician-only ownership regime governs any clinical PC an RN might practice through, but non-clinical businesses (staffing, home health) fall outside that regime entirely and carry no ownership restriction.
For medical-aesthetics (med-spa) businesses, an RN performs delegated laser/injectable procedures under physician delegation (a Medical Director) rather than independent RN authority — ownership and clinical-delegation authority are separate questions.
Legal sources for these rules (1)
- 63 P.S. § 211 et seq. — Professional Nursing Law
About Pennsylvania's rules
Pennsylvania has no independent-practice pathway for CRNPs — SB 25-style full-practice-authority bills have been introduced every session without passing. PA (physician assistant) reform via Acts 78/79 of 2021 removed prior Board pre-approval of written agreements and the flat 100%-countersignature rule after the first year, but a written agreement and supervision remain mandatory. PA is a CPOM state: only licensed physicians may own a medical professional corporation.
Other clinicians in Pennsylvania: see the state overview.