What is a physicians responsibility when supervising nurses with prescriptive authority?
In Massachusetts, nurses’ prescriptive privileges are governed generally by the regulations of the Boards of Registration in Nursing and Medicine, and specifically bythe guidelines developed with a supervising physician. Such guidelines must state the nature and scope of the nurse’s practice, any specific limitations on prescriptive powers, and the mechanism for physician supervision. The supervising physician must review the nurse’s prescriptive practice at least every three months and provide ongoing direction. Physicians deciding whether and how to supervise a nurse with prescriptive authority should consider the geographical proximity, practice setting, volume, and complexity of the patient population for each nurse being supervised, as well as the nurse’s and physician’s levels of expertise. New Hampshire does not require physician supervisors for prescribing nurses. In Rhode Island, nurse practitioners’ prescribing privileges are defined by formularies written in collaboration wi
