Practice Agreement · RN
Registered Nurse Practice Agreement in Tennessee
Tennessee 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 (TCA Title 63, Chapter 7) is not subject to physician supervision or a collaborative agreement — RNs work within physician/APRN orders, standing orders, and facility protocols, categorically distinct from TN's APRN Certificate of Fitness/Collaborative Management Agreement regime above.
What a Registered Nurse practice agreement covers in Tennessee
Governed by the Tennessee 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 Tenn. Code Ann. Title 63, Chapter 7. Tennessee law does not require a Collaborative Practice 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
- Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1140-03-.17 (Collaborative Pharmacy Practice)board rule
Tennessee Board of Pharmacy rule implementing Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-10-217, governing collaborative pharmacy practice agreements: required elements, filing, quality assessment, review and renewal.
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 TN; 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 TN, unlike the APRN/PA categories above.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional Corporation or PLLC for nursing services under TN's single-profession-per-PC rule; non-clinical businesses an RN might own fall outside this regime entirely.
Legal sources for these rules (1)
- Tenn. Code Ann. Title 63, Chapter 7 — Nurses
About Tennessee's rules
TN is a restricted-practice state for NPs — no independence pathway exists. Physicians must personally review ≥20% of an APRN's charts every 30 days (100% of controlled-substance charts) and visit remote practice sites in person every 30 days. TN has an explicit, unambiguous corporate-practice-of-medicine ban (statute, case law, and AG opinions; TCA § 63-6-204) — a professional corporation may practice only a single profession.
Other clinicians in Tennessee: see the state overview.