AFC Development

Arizona: Full Practice, a Nurse Licensure Compact member. Arizona grants full practice authority to NPs. After certification by the Board of Nursing, they can diagnose and treat patients, and prescribe once the Board grants prescribing and dispensing authority, all without physician supervision, a collaborative agreement or a transition period.

Colorado: Full Practice, a Nurse Licensure Compact member. Colorado NPs can practice independently and prescribe medications, including controlled substances. NPs new to prescribing first receive provisional prescriptive authority and must complete a 750 hour prescribing mentorship with a physician or an advanced practice registered nurse who has full prescriptive authority within three years to earn full prescriptive authority.

Florida: Restricted Practice, a Nurse Licensure Compact member. Florida requires NPs to practice under a supervisory protocol with a physician. Since 2020, NPs who meet eligibility requirements may register for autonomous practice limited to primary care, including family medicine, general pediatrics, and general internal medicine; the requirements include, within the preceding five years, at least 3,000 supervised hours of clinical practice and graduate-level coursework, or the equivalent, in differential diagnosis and pharmacology.

Kentucky: Reduced Practice, a Nurse Licensure Compact member. Kentucky NPs need a collaborative agreement with a physician to prescribe, with separate agreements for nonscheduled legend drugs and for controlled substances. Once NPs have four years of prescribing experience, which can include prescribing in another state, they may prescribe without these agreements, though dropping the controlled substance agreement first requires a Board of Nursing good standing review.

Maine: Full Practice, a Nurse Licensure Compact member. Maine NPs may prescribe from licensure, including controlled substances in schedules II through V, but must practice for at least 24 months under the supervision of a licensed physician or a supervising NP, or be employed by a clinic or hospital whose medical director is a licensed physician, before practicing independently. A 2026 law replaces this requirement once the Board of Nursing adopts new practice standards by rule, so confirm the current requirement with the Board.