1615. Advanced practice registered nurses; regulatory authority; unprofessional conduct
(a) In addition to the provisions of 3 V.S.A. § 129a and section 1582 of this chapter, the Board may deny an application for licensure, renewal, or reinstatement or may revoke, suspend, or otherwise discipline an advanced practice registered nurse upon due notice and opportunity for hearing if the person engages in the following conduct:
(1) Abandonment of a patient in violation of the duty to maintain a provider-patient relationship within the reasonable expectations of continuing care or referral.
(2) Solicitation of professional patronage by agents or persons or profiting from the acts of those representing themselves to be agents of the licensed APRN.
(3) Division of fees or agreeing to split or divide the fees received for professional services for any person for bringing or referring a patient.
(4) Practice beyond those acts and situations that are within the limits of the knowledge and experience of the APRN, and, for an APRN who is practicing under a collaborative agreement, practice beyond those acts and situations that are within both the usual scope of the collaborating provider’s practice and the terms of the collaborative agreement.
(5) For an APRN who acts as the collaborating provider for an APRN who is practicing under a collaboration agreement, allowing the mentored APRN to perform a medical act that is outside the usual scope of the mentor’s own practice or that the mentored APRN is not qualified to perform by training or experience or that is not consistent with the requirements of this chapter and the rules of the Board.
(6) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, providing, prescribing, dispensing, or furnishing medical services or prescription medication or prescription-only devices to a person in response to any communication transmitted or received by computer or other electronic means when the licensee fails to take the following actions to establish and maintain a proper provider-patient relationship:
(A) a reasonable effort to verify that the person requesting medication is in fact the patient and is in fact who the person claims to be;
(B) establishment of documented diagnosis through the use of accepted medical practices; and
(C) maintenance of a current medical record.
(7) Prescribing, selling, administering, distributing, ordering, or dispensing any drug legally classified as a controlled substance for his or her own use or for an immediate family member.
(8) Signing a blank or undated prescription form.
(9) Administering or promoting the sale of medication, devices, appliances, or other patient goods and services in a manner that exploits the patient.
(10) Selling, prescribing, giving away, or administering drugs for other than legal and legitimate therapeutic purposes.
(11) Agreeing with clinical or bioanalytical laboratories to make payments to such laboratories for individual tests or test series for patients, unless the APRN discloses on the bills to patients or third party payers the name of such laboratory, the amount or amounts to such laboratory for individual tests or test series, and the amount of his or her processing charge or procurement, if any, for each specimen taken.
(12) Willful misrepresentation in treatments.
(13) Permitting one’s name or license to be used by a person, group, or corporation when not actually in charge of or responsible for the treatment given.
(b)(1) For the purposes of subdivision (a)(6) of this section, an electronic, online, or telephonic evaluation by questionnaire is inadequate for the initial evaluation of the patient, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (2)(D) of this subsection.
(2) The following would not be in violation of subdivision (a)(6) of this section:
(A) initial admission orders for newly hospitalized patients;
(B) prescribing for a patient of another provider for whom the prescriber has taken call;
(C) prescribing for a patient examined by a licensed APRN, physician assistant, or other practitioner authorized by law and supported by the APRN;
(D) in furtherance of 18 V.S.A. chapter 223, prescribing medication for an individual to terminate the individual’s pregnancy based on an adaptive questionnaire developed by or in consultation with health care providers with clinically appropriate expertise that allows the licensee to obtain additional medical history and ask follow-up questions as needed;
(E) continuing medication on a short-term basis for a new patient prior to the patient’s first appointment; or
(F) emergency situations where the life or health of the patient is in imminent danger.
Added 2011, No. 66, § 5, eff. June 1, 2011; amended 2015, No. 38, § 9, eff. May 28, 2015; 2017, No. 144 (Adj. Sess.), § 18; 2025, No. 20, § 11, eff. May 13, 2025.
