Topic 1 DQ 1 what steps are required to become a prescriber?
In Arizona, an APRN licensed with prescribing privileges must obtain authorization with the board’s prescriptive certification to practice as a registered nurse practitioner. They also have to have a DEA number and Controlled Substances Prescription Monitoring Program registration number issued by the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy to prescribe controlled substances (“Rules of the state board of nursing,” 2019).
In addition, they are required to have forty-five hours of contact with patients for educational purposes within the three years that precede application for licensure. The areas covered should be pharmacology and clinical management of drug therapy and address drugs’ therapeutic uses and biological effects (“Prescribing requirements,” 2018).
To maintain their license, APRNs must do three hours of continuing education related to controlled substances, opioid substances, substance use disorder, and addictions before renewing each license, regardless of whether or not they plan to prescribe the substances. The applicable health profession regulatory board approves the three hours of continuing medical education.
Arizona is one of the states where advanced practice registered nurses have full prescriptive authority. They can prescribe medications and controlled substances with the full legal practice authority ranging from Schedule II-V drugs. However, the advisory opinion, according to the Arizona State Board of Nursing, is that APRNs should avoid dispensing prescription medication to family members unless the relatives are patients where the
APRN practices or the situation calls for a medical emergency (“Role of the advanced practice registered nurse: treating and prescribing of medications to self and/or family,” 2019). It is ill-advised because treating a patient with a non-professional relationship may jeopardize the provider’s objectivity and quality of service.
References
Prescribing requirements. (2018). AZBN | Arizona State Board of Nursing. https://www.azbn.gov/laws-and-rules/prescribing-requirements
Role of the advanced practice registered nurse: treating and prescribing of medications to self and/or family. (2019). AZBN | Arizona State Board of Nursing. https://www.azbn.gov/sites/default/files/advisory-opinions/ao-role-of-the-aprn-treating-prescribing-medications-to-self-and-or-family-03272015.pdf
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