OAR 851-049-0000: Rule Summary, Statement of Purpose and Intent

(1) ORS 678.150 establishes the Board’s authority to supervise the practice of nursing and to determine the scope of nursing practice. Pursuant ORS 678.010(9)(b)(A), the practice of nursing includes executing medical orders prescribed by a physician, dentist, clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, certified registered nurse anesthetist or other health care provider licensed or certified by this state and authorized by the board by rule to issue orders for medical treatment. (2) When engaging in registered nursing practice, the RN may encounter a medical order for a treatment or a medication that contains inclusion or exclusion criteria that has been pre-identified by the prescriber. For the purposes of these rules, a medical order for a treatment or a medication that contains inclusion or exclusion criteria pre-identified by the prescriber is a protocol. (3) These rules identify acceptable levels of safe nursing practice for: (a) The RN who practices in an environment where a protocol is used in the execution of a medical order for a client; (b) The LPN who accepts an assignment to execute a medical order contained within a protocol; (c) The RN and the LPN who communicate a prescriber’s reauthorization of a client’s prescription to a pharmacy; and (d) The RN who dispenses medication in a setting certified by the Board of Pharmacy as a Community Health Clinic.