CNS · Rhode Island
Supervision Agreement for Clinical Nurse Specialists in Rhode Island
No. Clinical Nurse Specialists practice independently here. Rhode Island does not require one.
RI's APRN statute (§ 5-34-44) recognizes clinical nurse specialist as one of the board-approved APRN 'role and population foci' under the same independent-practitioner framework as NP — no CNS-specific carve-out (narrower or broader) was found in this research pass; treated as following the general APRN rule.
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
Not codified — left to the agreement
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
Covered by the practice agreement · controlled substances permitted
No CNS-specific prescriptive-authority provision (distinct from general CNP scope) was located in this research pass — this entry assumes the general APRN prescriptive framework (§ 5-34-49) applies, but that assumption is unconfirmed and should be verified with the Board of Nursing before relying on it.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional under the general APRN independent-practitioner rule (§ 5-34-44) — no CNS-specific statute or regulation was located to confirm or contradict this in this research pass.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional Service Corporation under R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-5.1-1 et seq., via CNS's RN licensure base.
Legal sources for these rules (1)
What a supervising physician costs here
Typical monthly cost in Rhode Island
$500 – $600
Estimate for one Clinical Nurse Specialist. Standard-tier state.
About Rhode Island's rules
RI is a Full Practice Authority state for NP/CNM (R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-34-44) and, since a 2019 reform (§ 5-54-8), no longer requires PAs to have a written practice agreement — 'collaboration' with an always-accessible physician replaced supervision and hospital ratio caps. CRNAs are the exception: RI has NOT taken the Medicare physician-supervision opt-out, and CRNA scope is statutorily bounded to the perioperative period.
Other clinicians in Rhode Island: see the state overview.