Editing LPN Scope of Practice (section)

== State Boards of Nursing and Nurse Practice Acts ==

Every U.S. state and territory has its own board of nursing, and each board is the licensing and disciplinary authority for nurses in that jurisdiction. Boards issue the license, set continuing education requirements, investigate complaints, and may discipline a license through remediation, probation, suspension, or revocation.

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) is the membership organization of these boards. NCSBN develops and administers the NCLEX-PN examination, but NCSBN does not license nurses and does not set any single national scope of practice. Licensure and scope remain state functions.

The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) allows a nurse whose primary state of residence is a compact state to hold one multistate license and practice in other compact states. An important principle for the exam: a nurse practicing under a multistate license must follow the nurse practice act and scope rules of the state where the patient is located, not the rules of the nurse's home state.

Ignorance of the nurse practice act is not a defense. Each licensed nurse is personally responsible for knowing and practicing within the act of the state where care is delivered.