Protocol · NP · Rhode Island
Practice Protocol for Nurse Practitioners in Rhode Island
Nurse Practitioners practice independently in Rhode Island. A practice protocol is voluntary; here is what one covers and what the state does require.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-34-44: APRNs are 'licensed, independent practitioners' — no collaborative agreement with a physician is required to practice full scope, regardless of experience. RI has been a Full Practice Authority state for NPs since 2013.
What a voluntary Nurse Practitioner protocol covers in Rhode Island
Rhode Island requires no written protocol for nurse practitioners. These are the clauses a practice includes when it chooses to put one in writing. The Rhode Island Board of Nursing and the Rhode Island Board of Pharmacy governs nurse practitioners here.
Rhode Island does not require the Nurse Practitioner to enter into a collaboration or supervision agreement with a physician. The Nurse Practitioner assesses, diagnoses, treats, and prescribes under the Nurse Practitioner's own license, consistent with R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 5-34.
This Agreement's terms regarding the Nurse Practitioner accordingly serve to define the working relationship, referral pathways, and any Medical Director oversight between the Parties, and are not themselves required by Rhode Island law as a condition of the Nurse Practitioner's authority to practice.
- A voluntary protocol also carries 1 scope, 1 education and 1 registration clauses, authored in the document itself.
What Rhode Island does require
The supervision and prescribing rules that apply to nurse practitioners regardless of any protocol.
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 · controlled substances permitted
§ 5-34-49: Certified Nurse Practitioners may prescribe legend medications and Schedule II–V controlled substances, and MAY BE SEPARATELY CERTIFIED to prescribe Schedule I — an unusually broad grant; confirm current Schedule I certification requirements with the Board before relying on this for a specific patient population.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional — § 5-34-44 defines APRN practice as independent from licensure; no collaborative agreement is required at any point.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional Service Corporation under R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-5.1-1 et seq. — registered nurses (which includes APRNs practicing under an RN license with an advanced-practice endorsement) are listed among the eligible healing-arts licensees for a multi-service PSC.
Sources for the supervision rules (3)
About Rhode Island's rules
RI is a Full Practice Authority state for NP/CNM (R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-34-44) and, since a 2019 reform (§ 5-54-8), no longer requires PAs to have a written practice agreement — 'collaboration' with an always-accessible physician replaced supervision and hospital ratio caps. CRNAs are the exception: RI has NOT taken the Medicare physician-supervision opt-out, and CRNA scope is statutorily bounded to the perioperative period.
Other clinicians in Rhode Island: see the state overview.