nurse practice act vs. standerds of nursing practice

Nurses General Nursing

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What is the difference between nurse practice act and professional standerds of nursing practice????

what is the difference between nurse practice act and professional standerds of nursing practice????

the nurse practice act is a set of standards, commandments, if you will, written by the board of nsg.

professional standards of nsg practice are what we nurses adhere to, as defined by the nurse practice act.

leslie

My understanding has always been that a) the Nurse Practice Act of each state is the piece of state legislation that defines the legal parameters of nursing practice within that specific state -- every state has an NPA, but there are variations from state to state -- while b) professional standards of nursing practice are the recommended guidelines developed and published by the ANA and other national professional nursing organizations (in the various specialties). They are typically considered and reflected in the construction or amendment of the state NPAs.

BTW, while state BONs have input into the wording of state NPAs, they do not write them -- the state legislatures do, and they consider input from anyone in the state who has an opinion: nurses, MDs, the state hospital association, various advocacy groups, members of the general public, etc. You would be surprised at how little control the BON and nurses within a state have over how the state NPA defines the pratice of nursing ... :uhoh21:

Each state BON, under the authority granted by the state legislature, issues licenses to practice within its own jurisdiction (the state). The National Council of State Boards of Nursing is simply an umbrella group, the same as there is a national organization of governors to which the governors of all 50 states belong, and they get together and discuss issues, lobby Congress, etc., about issues that affect all of them, but the organization doesn't have any official authority in any particular state -- the individual governors are still the governors! The NCSBN has no authority to issue licenses or control the practice of nursing in any state; that authority is retained by the individual BONs.

As I wrote earlier, each state has its own, unique Nurse Practice Act (although there is certainly a lot of commonalities and overlap among the various state NPAs). The NPA is legislation written and passed by the state legislature (of each, individual state) -- not by the state BON, the NCSBN, or any of the professional nursing organizations (although they can all make recommendations and give advice, which the legislature may or may not accept). However, since the point of the NPA is to protect the public by defining and regulating the practice of nursing within the state, the state legislatures also listen to and consider input from "the public," including physicians, the state hospital association, other healthcare professionals, various advocacy groups, and members of the general public. Nurses within a state have surprisingly little control over the state's NPA!

Welcome to allnurses, by the way -- I forgot to say that earlier!

Specializes in Advanced Practice, surgery.

Charles do you want the US nurse practice at etc or do you need information from China?

hi, sharrie,

thanks for your response. I want the us nurse practice act etc. and am interested in the information you suggested here.

Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Each state is different, you will have to go to the state nursing website and search

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