Advanced Practice Registered Nurses are No Longer Required to Work Under the Direct Supervision of a PhysicianOct. 30, 2014

Lord & Associates has successfully defended licensed professionals before their boards for several years. Over this past year, Priscilla Lord moderated a meeting between a coalition of Minnesota physicians and the Minnesota Advance Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) Coalition to help the groups reach an agreement on what language recommendations to make to the Minnesota legislature to amend then-existing law to allow APRNs to practice more independently. The legislature accepted most of the suggested language changes and governor Dayton signed the bill into law on May 13, 2014, which goes into effect January 15, 2015.
Prior to this change in the law, APRNs in Minnesota had to be supervised by a doctor in the care of the nurses patients. One of the problems that arose was that doctors were so busy with their own practice they did not have the additional time needed to supervise the APRNs, resulting in delayed care to the patients. Under the new law, APRNs no longer need a doctors supervision except when prescribing controlled substances. This allows greater flexibility for APRNs to provide affordable quality care to more patients.
For more information or to find out how to apply for APRN licensure under the new law please visit the Minnesota Board of Nursing website.