WeVote
Log In

Bill

Bill

H 3580

Advanced Practice Registered Nurse practice authority

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Lucas Atkinson and 15 co-sponsors

Gives SC Board of Nursing power to grant full practice authority to eligible APRNs, enabling independent diagnosis, prescribing, and care, boosting access to care.

Member(s) request name added as sponsor: White, Kilmartin
0
WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · H 3580

Summary — H 3580: Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) practice authority

Note: The materials provided include text from two different bills (a South Carolina APRN full-practice-authority bill and a Massachusetts energy/building-code bill). This summary focuses on the APRN practice-authority provisions (the APRN text appears to amend South Carolina Code, Title 40, Chapter 33).

Main purpose

To authorize the State Board of Nursing to grant “full practice authority” to Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) who meet specified criteria, allowing those APRNs to practice independently (without a required collaborative/practice agreement) and to perform specified medical and nonmedical acts within an expanded scope.

Key provisions and changes

  • New statutory section (proposed Section 40-33-31):

    • Grants the Board discretion to confer full practice authority to qualified APRNs.
    • Criteria to obtain full practice authority:
    • Completion of 2,000 clinical hours in advanced practice nursing after initial APRN licensure.
    • Possession of malpractice insurance.
    • Attestation and documentation of meeting the clinical-hours requirement.
    • Board approval of the application.
    • APRNs granted full practice authority must notify the Board of any change in practice setting within 15 days.
    • The Board must timely review applications and grant authority upon satisfactory demonstration of requirements.

  • Definition / scope of “full practice authority”:

    • Independently order and interpret diagnostic data; assess and diagnose patients.
    • Prescribe medications, treatments, and therapies authorized under law (including those referenced in Section 40-33-34).
    • Delegate and assign therapeutic measures to assistive personnel.
    • Perform nonmedical advanced-practice functions (population health management, quality improvement, research, informatics).
    • Authority to perform acts consistent with national model practice acts and recognized national standards.

  • Conforming amendments to existing definitions and provisions:

    • Clarifies definitions for APRN, certification, CNM, CNS, and related terms (education/certification expectations: doctorate, post-nursing master’s certificate, or minimum master’s degree; national certification within two years post-graduation).
    • Additional acts that are medical in nature generally require approval by both the Board of Nursing and the Board of Medical Examiners — except for APRNs granted full practice authority by the Board of Nursing.
    • Conforming edits proposed to provisions on APRN application requirements, practice agreements, prescriptive authority, delegation to unlicensed assistive personnel, and discipline grounds.

Who is affected

  • APRNs: Eligible APRNs can gain independent authority to diagnose, treat, prescribe, and lead certain care activities without a collaborative agreement.
  • Patients and communities: Potentially expanded access to primary and specialty care, especially in underserved areas.
  • Physicians and medical boards: Change in oversight dynamics where some APRNs will no longer require practice agreements; joint approvals for certain additional medical acts remain except for fully authorized APRNs.
  • Employers, health systems, insurers: May need to update credentialing, supervision policies, reimbursement, and risk-management practices.
  • Board of Nursing: New application review responsibilities and regulatory implementation.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • The APRN text includes a prefiled date of 12/12 (year in text) and describes introduction and referral actions (to Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs). Sponsor identified as M.M. Smith (primary) in provided metadata.
  • The package posted by the user includes a mix of legislative actions and a different Massachusetts bill (net-zero neighborhoods). Because of mixed records, exact current status and scheduled hearings for the APRN-specific bill should be verified with the relevant state legislature (bill numbers, committee assignments, and hearing dates vary by state).

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Likely to expand clinical access and APRN autonomy, with workforce and access-to-care benefits.
  • Raises issues for regulatory oversight, malpractice coverage, prescribing controls, and coordination of care.
  • Implementation will require Board rulemaking (application procedures, review timelines, possible reporting requirements) and coordination with other licensing boards where “additional acts” intersect.

If you want, I can:
- Extract and present only the South Carolina bill text with a clean timeline; or
- Verify/cross-check bill status and sponsors against the relevant state legislative website (please indicate the state).

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

Sign in to ask a question.