(a) The board shall establish categories of nurse practitioners and standards for nurses to hold themselves out as nurse practitioners in each category. The standards shall take into account the types of advanced levels of nursing practice that are or may be performed and the clinical and didactic education, as outlined in the nurse practitioner curriculum core competencies specified in the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties’ Nurse Practitioner Role Core Competencies (2022), or a successor approved by the board, experience, or both, needed to practice safely at those levels. In setting the standards, the board shall consult with nurse practitioners, physicians and surgeons with expertise in the nurse practitioner field, and health care organizations using nurse practitioners. Established standards shall apply to persons without regard to the date of meeting the standards. If the board sets standards for use of nurse practitioner titles that include completion of an academically affiliated program, it shall provide equivalent standards for registered nurses who have not completed the program.
(b) Any regulations promulgated by a state department that affect the scope of practice of a nurse practitioner shall be developed in consultation with the board.
(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 510, Sec. 50. (SB 887) Effective January 1, 2024.)