To Prepare: Review the Resources and reflect on the mission of state/regional boards of nursing as the protection of the public through the regulation of nursing practice. Consider how key regulations may impact nursing practice. Review key regulations for nursing practice of your state’s/region’s board of nursing and those of at least one other state/region and select at least two APRN regulations to focus on for this Discussion.

For California, which is the state I currently reside in, NPs have restricted practice. According to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (2022), there are three practice environments for NPs: full practice, reduce practice, and restricted practice. There are currently 11 states including California who are restricted practice.

Restricted practice means that during the NPs career they must be supervised by a physician to be able to practice and the physicians must agree with the NPs assessment and approve the care plan and prescriptions associated with that assessment (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2022).

Recently, the California governor signed AB 890 which provides two different routes an NP can take to independently practice. One route taken effect since January 2021 allows NPs to continue to practice in any healthcare facility as long as there is one or two physicians employed there but does not have to be directly supervised while the other NP route which will take effect in January 2023 allows NPs to practice independently and open their own clinic, but they would have to be in good standing and have practiced three plus years (Montague, 2020). Even with this information, the AANP still shows California as being a restricted practice state maybe the official change won’t occur until 2023.

For Minnesota, where Walden University is located, NPs have full practice. This means that NPs can diagnose, prescribe medications including controlled substances, order and interpret diagnostic tests, and initiate and manage treatments based on the licensure of the state board of nursing (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2020).

However, new NPs must work 2,080 hours under what Minnesota calls a collaborative management in which the NP must work collaboratively with a physician (Minnesota Board of Nursing, 2022).

To my understanding since the California governor signed the AB 890, this allows NPs in California to practice to their full scope independently just like a full practice state so APRNs in both California and Minnesota can practice fully if they are in good standing with the board and continue to meet the requirements to keep their license.