Thriveworks

New Jersey: Reduced Practice, a Nurse Licensure Compact member. New Jersey generally requires NPs to have joint protocols with a collaborating physician in order to prescribe or order medications and devices. Under a 2026 law, NPs in a qualifying population focus with more than 5,000 hours of advanced practice who provide primary or behavioral health care, and do not provide general obstetrics or elective aesthetic or cosmetic services, may practice and prescribe without a joint protocol.

South Carolina: Restricted Practice, a Nurse Licensure Compact member. South Carolina NPs must perform medical acts under a practice agreement with a physician, who must be readily available for consultation.

Alaska: Full Practice, outside the Nurse Licensure Compact. NPs in Alaska can practice independently, including prescribing controlled substances, without physician oversight.

Arkansas: Reduced Practice, a Nurse Licensure Compact member. Arkansas NPs need a collaborative practice agreement, typically with a physician, to prescribe unless they hold a certificate of full independent practice authority. An NP can apply for that certificate after 6,240 hours of practice under an agreement with a physician or with prescriptive authority in another jurisdiction.

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.