Green, Yellow, Red- State APN Practice Privileges and Prescriptive Authority

Inarguably, Advanced practice nurses (APNs) ‘practice of privilege and prescriptive authority differs across states. The green, yellow and red color codes identify nurses’ practice environments. The red code denotes restricted practice, yellow denotes reduced practice, and green denotes full practice. The State of California defines APNs’ practice privileges and prescriptive authority through its State’s regulations. In California, nurses’ practice environment is red-coded. This means that nurse practice in the State is restricted (Winter et al., 2020). In this regard, nurses are expected to only practice under close supervision by physicians.

Notably, APNs in the State have an expanded scope of practice. After finishing a transitional period, they can practice independently without a physician’s supervision (Montague, 2020). In this regard, nurses in the State are allowed to evaluate and diagnose patients, interpret diagnostic tests, and initiate and manage treatments.

Subsequently, California is a restricted practice state. The State’s regulations require nurse practitioners to work with physicians’ oversight. This makes it illegal for nurse practitioners to provide the full scope of nursing services upon completing their graduate medications.

Consistently, APNs in California also have the prescriptive privilege. This allows them to initiate and manage treatment for their patients. Standardized procedures, per Californian, are policies and protocols outlined by organized healthcare systems to guide the implementation of standardized procedures. According to the State’s statutes, a nurse performing standardized procedures must be a registered nurse licensed to practice in the State, a graduate of an approved Nurse Practitioner program, and certified by the Californian Board of Nursing.

References

Montague, A. (2020, December 15). Expanding the scope of practice for nurse practitioners in California: AB 890 compromises to permit independent practice. The Source on HealthCare Price and Competition. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://sourceonhealthcare.org/expanding-scope-of-practice-for-nurse-practitioners-in-california-ab-890-compromises-to-permit-independent-practice/

Winter, S., Chapman, S. A., Cha