(a) The board shall establish categories of nurse practitioners and standards for nurses to hold themselves out as nurse practitioners in each category. Such standards shall take into account the types of advanced levels of nursing practice which are or may be performed and the clinical and didactic education, experience, or both needed to practice safely at those levels. In setting such standards, the board shall consult with nurse practitioners, physicians and surgeons with expertise in the nurse practitioner field, and health care organizations utilizing nurse practitioners. Established standards shall apply to persons without regard to the date of meeting such standards. If the board sets standards for use of nurse practitioner titles which include completion of an academically affiliated program, it shall provide equivalent standards for registered nurses who have not completed such a program.
(b) Any regulations promulgated by a state department that affect the scope of practice of a nurse practitioner shall be developed in consultation with the board.
(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 764, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2003.)