Do all nurse practitioners need to file protocols?


Effective June 23, 2017, the Board of Nursing is no longer required to receive, review, or maintain Advanced Practice Registered Nurse protocols.

Statutory authority on protocols is Section 464.012(3), F.S. — An advanced practice registered nurse shall perform those functions authorized in this section within the framework of an established protocol which must be maintained onsite at the location or locations at which an advanced practice registered nurse practices. In the case of multiple supervising physicians in the same group, an advanced practice registered nurse must enter into a supervisory protocol with at least one physician within the physician group practice.

In addition, Section 464.012(4), FS, references: (e) A psychiatric nurse, who meets the requirements in s. 394.455(35), within the framework of an established protocol with a psychiatrist, may prescribe psychotropic controlled substances for the treatment of mental disorders.