Nursing Law

¶ … Nurse Practice Act or ORC 4723, permits the OBN to create and enforce regulations and rules for practical nurses, registered nurses, certified nurse-midwives, dialysis technicians, certified registered nurse anethetists, certified nurse practitioners, and also community health works fall under the Act as of 2003. The board members made up of nurses and one consumer adminsters and enforces all provisions under NPA.

The licensing and certification requirements of nurses in Ohio are as follows: first in order to get an APN certificate and work in Ohio as a nurse, one must have completed successfully a graduate degree in a nursing specialty, or anything related; Then one must take a national certification examm either in a specialty area within one of four general APN roles or as a generalist according to the Ohio Board of Nursing; Thirdly, one must apply for a certificate of authority or COA.

This allows one to practice as an APN in the state of Ohio. The cost for applying for a COA is $100. In order to maintain ability to practice as a nurse, all APN COAs must the be renewed every two years through the OLCVS or Ohio License Center Verification Site. The fee for the renewal is $85. Any late fee is $50. Furthermore, all nurses in Ohio must finish 24 hours of CE biennially.

"Independent prescribing (also called prescriptive authority) is the ability of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to prescribe, without limitation, legend (prescription) and controlled drugs, devices, adjunct health/medical services, durable medical goods, and other equipment and supplies" (AANP, 2014).

Nurse practitioner prescription-writing privileges in the state of Ohio are as follows: collaborating signifies any certified nurse practioner or specialist in which a physician has started a standard care arangment with must be continuously available for the nurse to communicate with using various forms of communication (telephone, email, internet, or other telecommunication avenues); consultation which denotes the communication or discussion between a certified nurse and a physician with a patient in regards to prescription of a drug; contact hour or minimum one hour of continuing education and is a part of the Ohio definitions.

These along with course of study and accrediting hours allows a nurse practioner prescription-writing privileges. In regards to physician affiliations agreement, there are no clear indicators for such actions. However, one article explains affiliation agreements and the reasons for these agreements within the state of Ohio. The agreement explains that the two corresponding health systems will remain independent, but will collaborate in regards to certain scenarios or patient needs. 1.

Under the affiliation agreement, the two health systems will remain independent but work together to develop close-to-home care options for residents who would normally travel to Ohio State for highly-specialized treatments. Collaborations in areas such as cancer, heart and vascular care, neurosurgery, telemedicine, urology, diabetes management and community wellness/prevention programs are being discussed (OSU, 2014). Since independence is urged and emphasized within the agreement, the respective health systems may collaborate and communicate but not as a joint entity. Therefore this kind of agreement would fall under independent practice.

Although there is stated collaboration and even supervision under the agreement in regards to chronic illness management, when it comes to general care, independence is required. Ohio mandates that any certified nurse practioner or specialist must not prescribe controlled substances. There are however, exceptions.

These exceptions are: a patient is diagnosed with a terminal illness or condition; the physician working with the nurse prescribed initially the controlled substance, if a nurse practioner or specialist prescribes the controlled substance in a hospital, an entity controlled or owned by a hospital, a health care facility run by the department of mental health, a nursing home, a hospice care program, and a community mental health services provides; the amount prescribed does not go over the use of a single, 24-hour period.

There are other scenarios embedded within the section, however, they explain various time periods and additional locations. Overall the general indication is nurses can prescribe controlled substances within Ohio under certain restrictions and circumstances. To gain prescriptive authority in Ohio and apply for a DEA number, several steps must be done. The first is to get prescriptive authority by applying and completing 30 pharmacology CME hours. Additionally one must complete 2 clinical hours and 15 fiscal and ethical CME hours.

As an Ohio website states: "The provisional period is 1000 hours and the first 500 hours must be under onsite supervision by your supervising physician. Upon completion of the 1000 hours you.