General Information
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) is an umbrella title for Registered Nurses who are, as defined in the North Carolina Administrative Code (21 NCAC 36.0120(6) ), as Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Anesthetist, Nurse-Midwife or Clinical Nurse Specialist.
Definition of an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), adapted from the Consensus Model for APRN Regulation*
An Advanced Practice Registered Nurse is a nurse:
- Who has completed an accredited graduate-level education program preparing him/her for one of the four recognized Advanced Practice Registered Nurse roles;
- Who has passed a National Certification examination that measures Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, role and population-focused competencies and who maintains continued competence as evidenced by recertification in the role and population through the national certification program;
- Who has acquired advanced clinical knowledge and skills to provide direct care to patients, as well as a component of indirect care; however, the defining factor for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses is a significant component of the education and practice focuses on direct care of individuals;
- Whose practice builds on the competencies of Registered Nurses (RN) by demonstrating a greater depth and breadth of knowledge, a greater synthesis of data, increased complexity of skills and interventions, and greater role autonomy;
- Who is educationally prepared to assume responsibility and accountability for health promotion and/or maintenance as well as the assessment, diagnosis, and management of patient problems, which includes the use and prescription of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions;
- Who has clinical experience of sufficient depth and breadth to reflect the advanced practice role.
Additional Information on Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Controlled Substance Prescribing Information
- 21 NCAC 36 .0809 (Prescriptive Authority)
- Controlled Substances Reporting System (CSRS)
- Policy for the Use of Opiates for the Treatment of Pain
- Pain Management in End-of-Life Care
- Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP ACT)
- Controlled Substance Frequently Asked Questions (Adapted from Controlled Substances CME Requirement )
- Pre-authorization for Medicaid Opioid Prescriptions
- NEW! Responding to NC's Opioid Epidemic
External Resources on Opioid Safety/Substance Use Disorder
Session Law
The campaign outlines real, actionable steps for the safe storage, use and disposal of pain medications, as well as resources for finding treatment and recovery support.
- Free Safe Medication Storage/Disposal Resource available to Prescribers
- CO*RE: Updated CE/CME curriculum that helps clinicians balance the risks of opioid analgesics with the benefits for relief to patients in their practice.
- Controlled Substances – Multiple evidence-based continuing education on controlled substance prescribing and pain management offered through the American Association of Nurse Practitioners CE Center
OPIOID Prescribing Alert
Provisions of the Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act that limit initial prescriptions for acute pain to 5 days and postsurgical pain prescriptions to 7 days; became effective on January 1, 2018.
For more details, please see the following:
- National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) Opioid Toolkit
- Community Care of North Carolina Opioid Safety
- Pathways to Safer Opioid Use
- This web-based training allows you to assume the role of 4 playable characters who make decisions - controlled by you - about preventing opioid-related adverse drug events (ADEs). The characters represent the following roles:
- Primary Care Physician
- Nurse
- Pharmacist
- Patient
- This web-based training allows you to assume the role of 4 playable characters who make decisions - controlled by you - about preventing opioid-related adverse drug events (ADEs). The characters represent the following roles:
Educational opportunities for meeting the requirements to apply for a medication-assisted therapy waiver