CNS · Tennessee
Supervision Agreement for Clinical Nurse Specialists in Tennessee
Yes, a written supervising-physician agreement is required. Tennessee does not name a specific instrument.
TN licenses CNS as an APRN role, but this research pass could not confirm whether CNS holds the same prescriptive/collaborative framework as NP or a narrower one (several other states in this dataset restrict CNS to no prescriptive authority) — treated conservatively; verify directly with the Board of Nursing.
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 · no controlled-substance authority
This research pass could not confirm CNS prescriptive authority in TN — set to False as the conservative default (consistent with several other states in this dataset that grant CNS no independent prescriptive authority), not a confirmed TN-specific finding. Verify with the Board of Nursing before relying on this.
Written agreement
Required
Whether TN's CNS agreement requirement mirrors the NP Collaborative Management Agreement exactly, or is narrower/absent, was not confirmed in this research pass.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Same general framework as the `np` entry — not independently confirmed for CNS-specific nursing PCs in this pass.
Legal sources for these rules (1)
What a supervising physician costs here
Typical monthly cost in Tennessee
$500 – $600
Estimate for one Clinical Nurse Specialist. Standard-tier state.
About Tennessee's rules
TN is a restricted-practice state for NPs — no independence pathway exists. Physicians must personally review ≥20% of an APRN's charts every 30 days (100% of controlled-substance charts) and visit remote practice sites in person every 30 days. TN has an explicit, unambiguous corporate-practice-of-medicine ban (statute, case law, and AG opinions; TCA § 63-6-204) — a professional corporation may practice only a single profession.
Other clinicians in Tennessee: see the state overview.