Written Protocol · RN
Minnesota Protocol for Registered Nurses
Recognized but not required in every case. The Protocol is the written instrument Minnesota law names for a Registered Nurse working with a physician. Below: the board that governs it, what it contains when one is used, and the supervision rules that apply either way.
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 voluntary Registered Nurse agreement covers in Minnesota
Minnesota requires no written agreement for registered nurses. These are the clauses a practice includes when it chooses to put one in writing. The Minnesota Board of Nursing governs registered nurses here.
A Registered Nurse may implement a protocol that does not reference a specific patient when the protocol is predetermined and delegated by Physician as a licensed practitioner and specifies the circumstances for the drug.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 148.235
Physician may be a licensed physician, dentist, podiatrist, optometrist, advanced practice registered nurse, certified midwife, or physician assistant.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 151.01, subd. 23
- The Protocol also carries 1 scope clauses, authored in the document itself.
Statutes and rules these clauses cite
- Minn. Stat. § 148.235statute
Subd. 8: RN may implement a non-patient-specific protocol resulting in a legend drug prescription delegated by a licensed practitioner; subd. 9: a nurse may implement a non-patient-specific vaccine protocol; subd. 11: RN dispensing of contraceptives in family planning agencies.
- Minn. Stat. § 151.01, subd. 23statute
Defines practitioner: licensed physicians, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists, veterinarians, APRNs, certified midwives, and physician assistants.
What Minnesota does require
The supervision and prescribing rules that apply to registered nurses regardless of any agreement.
Proximity
Not codified
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified
Meeting cadence
Not codified
Prescriptive authority
No agreement needed to prescribe · 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.
Sources for the supervision 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.