Practice Agreement · RN
Registered Nurse Practice Agreement in Rhode Island
Rhode Island 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.
General RN licensure (R.I. Gen. Laws Ch. 5-34) is not subject to physician supervision or a collaborative agreement — RNs practice within physician orders, standing orders, and facility protocols, categorically distinct from an APRN's independent-practitioner status or a PA's collaboration requirement.
What a Registered Nurse practice agreement covers in Rhode Island
Governed by the Rhode Island 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 R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 5-34. Rhode Island law does not require a 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
- 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 · no controlled-substance authority
RNs do not have independent prescriptive authority in RI; they administer medications per physician/APRN orders.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional — general RN licensure is never subject to physician supervision or a collaborative agreement in RI.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional Service Corporation under R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-5.1-1 et seq. — RNs are explicitly listed among eligible healing-arts licensees. Non-clinical businesses an RN might own fall outside this regime entirely.
Legal sources for these rules (2)
- R.I. Gen. Laws Ch. 5-34 — Nursessecondary
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-5.1-1 et seq. — Professional Service Corporations
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.