CNS · Connecticut
Supervision Agreement for Clinical Nurse Specialists in Connecticut
Yes, a written supervising-physician agreement is required. Connecticut does not name a specific instrument.
Connecticut licenses CNS under the same APRN license and §20-87a collaboration-to-independence framework as NP and CRNA. Unlike several other states on file, Connecticut's CNS scope includes the same diagnosis/treatment/prescriptive authority as NP — there is no narrower non-prescribing CNS carve-out in Connecticut law.
Independent practice requires: ≥3 years licensed and practicing as an APRN; ≥2,000 hours performing advanced-practice nursing activities in collaboration with a physician (§20-87a(3)).
What the supervision must look like
The rules the physician relationship has to follow. Each fact comes from the statute or board rule listed under sources.
Proximity
before the 3-year/2,000-hour independent-practice threshold: Available remotely (no on-site requirement)
Same collaboration standard as general NPs and CRNAs — no on-site presence or mile/minute radius is codified (§20-87a(2)(A)).
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified — left to the agreement
Meeting cadence
Not codified — left to the agreement
Prescriptive authority
Separate prescribing terms required · controlled substances permitted
Same statutory framework as general NPs (§20-87a(2)(A), §20-94b): Schedule IV-V within the collaboration; Schedule II-III requires the written collaboration to address the level the CNS may prescribe.
Written agreement
Required
Same as the general `np` entry — required only during the pre-independence collaboration period.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Same as the general `np` entry — Professional Service Corporation under § 33-182a; APRNs are an independently eligible licensee category.
What a supervising physician costs here
Typical monthly cost in Connecticut
$500 – $600
Estimate for one Clinical Nurse Specialist. Standard-tier state.
About Connecticut's rules
NP, CNS, and CRNA are all licensed as a single 'advanced practice registered nurse' category (§20-94a) sharing an identical 3-year/2,000-hour collaboration-to-independence pathway (§20-87a); CT does not statutorily distinguish PMHNP or CNS scope from general NP. CNMs are licensed separately (Ch. 377), with no written collaborative-agreement requirement. No provider type below has a codified supervision ratio cap, chart-review percentage, or on-site proximity radius outside CRNA's surgery-specific carve-out.
Other clinicians in Connecticut: see the state overview.