Practice Agreement · NP
Nurse Practitioner Practice Agreement in Rhode Island
Rhode Island 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.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-34-44: APRNs are 'licensed, independent practitioners' — no collaborative agreement with a physician is required to practice full scope, regardless of experience. RI has been a Full Practice Authority state for NPs since 2013.
What a Nurse Practitioner practice agreement covers in Rhode Island
Governed by the Rhode Island Board of Nursing and the Rhode Island Board of Pharmacy. Each numbered item is a statutory requirement the agreement must satisfy.
Rhode Island does not require the Nurse Practitioner to enter into a collaboration or supervision agreement with a physician. The Nurse Practitioner assesses, diagnoses, treats, and prescribes under the Nurse Practitioner's own license, consistent with R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 5-34.
This Agreement's terms regarding the Nurse Practitioner accordingly serve to define the working relationship, referral pathways, and any Medical Director oversight between the Parties, and are not themselves required by Rhode Island law as a condition of the Nurse Practitioner's authority to practice.
- The agreement on file also carries 1 scope, 1 education, 1 registration clauses, generated in the document itself.
Statutes and rules cited
- R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 5-19.2 (Collaborative Pharmacy Practice)statute
Defines a collaborative practice agreement between a pharmacist with advanced training and a physician, and establishes the collaborative practice committee and Board approval process.
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 · controlled substances permitted
§ 5-34-49: Certified Nurse Practitioners may prescribe legend medications and Schedule II–V controlled substances, and MAY BE SEPARATELY CERTIFIED to prescribe Schedule I — an unusually broad grant; confirm current Schedule I certification requirements with the Board before relying on this for a specific patient population.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional — § 5-34-44 defines APRN practice as independent from licensure; no collaborative agreement is required at any point.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional Service Corporation under R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-5.1-1 et seq. — registered nurses (which includes APRNs practicing under an RN license with an advanced-practice endorsement) are listed among the eligible healing-arts licensees for a multi-service PSC.
About Rhode Island's rules
RI is a Full Practice Authority state for NP/CNM (R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-34-44) and, since a 2019 reform (§ 5-54-8), no longer requires PAs to have a written practice agreement — 'collaboration' with an always-accessible physician replaced supervision and hospital ratio caps. CRNAs are the exception: RI has NOT taken the Medicare physician-supervision opt-out, and CRNA scope is statutorily bounded to the perioperative period.
Other clinicians in Rhode Island: see the state overview.