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The Form of Prescriptive Authority Nurse Practitioner’s Practice in Texas

1. Discuss the form of prescriptive authority Nurse Practitioner’s practice in Texas

Nurse Practitioners’ scope of practice takes into covers evaluation of patients, diagnosis, ordering and interpretation of diagnostic tests, and initiation and management of treatments, which also takes into consideration prescribing medications. In Texas, Nurse Practitioners (NPs) have limited authority when it comes to prescribing medications despite expansions in the scope of practice between 2001 and 2010 (Gadbois et al., 2015, p. 10). As such, NPs are allowed to prescribe controlled or regulated substances, and schedules III, IV, and V (Gadbois et al., 2015, p. 10). Controlled substances include hallucinogenic drugs, stimulants, depressants, and narcotics. Schedule III drugs are depressants and stimulants with a potential of abuse less that Schedules II and I, and limited quantities of narcotics combination, particularly Tylenol with codeine. Schedule IV drugs include depressants like chloral hydrate, phenobarbital, and alprazolam, while schedule V medications include propylhexedrin and buprenorphine.
2. What legal considerations are important to note with the form of prescriptive authority available of Nurse Practitioners in Texas?

Even though Texas has made incremental advancements in laws that regulate medical prescribing by NPs, there exist certain regulatory impediments to the practice. In relation to this, the legal guidelines for medical prescribing by NPs in Texas focus on two areas: The first area is the delegation of prescribing authority by a physician via a written document recommended by law (Coalition for Nurses in Advanced Practice, 2019, para.1). The second area concerns the limitations associated with prescribing Controlled Substances (CSs). The Prescriptive Authority Agreement (PAA) is among the written documents via which the delegation of prescriptive authority may be done by physicians to NPs. Some of the considerations for the qualification for PAA are possessing of complete and active practice license provided by the Board of Nursing (BON), possessing of an authentic prescriptive authorization number provided by the BON, and disclosure of any current or previous disciplinary action against practice license (Coalition for Nurses in Advanced Practice, 2019, para.7).