By: Chase Howard
Florida is the latest state to expand the practice of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses. In March 2020, autonomous practice was passed and signed into law, with the law going into effect in July. In October, the Board of Nursing promulgated rules and provided the application for NP’s seeking to practice autonomously.
Before qualifying for autonomous practice, however, an NP must meet the following requirements:
- Hold an active and unencumbered advanced practice license in the State of Florida;
- Complete at least 3,000 clinical practice hours under the supervision of an allopathic or osteopathic physician within the past 5 years. These hours may include clinical instructional hours;
- Complete three graduate-level semester hours, or the equivalent, in differential diagnosis and 3 graduate-level semester hours, or the equivalent, in pharmacology completed within the past 5 years (documentation required); and
- Not have been subject to disciplinary action as specified in Section 456.072 F.S. or Section 464.018 F.S., or any similar disciplinary action in any state or jurisdiction within the past 5 years.
Additionally, the NP must demonstrate the ability to pay claims and costs arising out of the rendering of, or the failure to render, nursing care, treatment, or services. Florida Statutes 464.0123 provides more information and exceptions to this financial responsibility.
Autonomous practice, however, is restricted to certain practice areas. Specifically, an autonomous NP may engage in autonomous practice only in primary care practice, including family medicine, general pediatrics, and general internal medicine, as defined by board rule. The Board of Nursing is working towards adopting a definition of “primary care practice”.
While there is no application fee, the NP must biennially renew their registration. The application can be found here.
