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 Arizona Administrative Code (Last Updated: November 17, 2016)
 Title 4. PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS
 Chapter 19. BOARD OF NURSING
 Article 5. ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSING

  Section R4-19-502. Requirements for APRN Programs  

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  • A.      An educational institution or other entity that offers an APRN program in this state for RNP or CNS roles shall ensure that the program:

    1.        Is offered by or affiliated with a college or university that

     

    i.      Acute care nurse practitioner (adult/gerontol-

     

    is accredited under A.R.S. § 32-1644;

    ogy),

    2.

    For new programs, the college or university offering the

    ii.     Adult nurse practitioner,

     

    program has at least one additional nationally accredited

    iii.   Family nurse practitioner,

     

    nursing program as defined in R4-19-101 or otherwise

    iv.   Gerontological nurse practitioner,

     

    provides  substantial   evidence  of   the  ability  to   attain

    v.     Pediatric nurse practitioner,

     

    national APRN program accreditation for all graduating

    vi.   Adult psychiatric and mental health nurse prac-

     

    cohorts;

    titioner,

    3.

    Is a formal educational program, that is part of a masters

    vii.  Family  psychiatric   and  mental   health  nurse

     

    or doctoral program or a post-masters program in nursing

    practitioner,

     

    with a concentration in an advanced practice registered

    viii. Adult health-gerontological nurse practitioner,

     

    nursing role and population focus under R4-19-501;

     

    c.

    Pediatric Nursing Certification Board certification

    4.

    Is nationally accredited, or has achieved candidacy status

     

     

    programs:

     

    for national accreditation by an approved national nursing

     

     

    i.      Pediatric nurse practitioner primary care,

     

    accrediting agency as defined in R4-19-101;

     

     

    ii.     Pediatric nurse practitioner acute care,

    5.

    Offers a curriculum that covers the scope of practice for

     

    d.

    National  Certification   Corporation  for   Obstetric,

     

    both the role of advanced practice as specified in A.R.S. §

     

     

    Gynecological,  and  Neonatal  Nursing  Specialties

     

    32-1601 and the population focus including;

     

     

    certification programs;

     

    a.      Three separate graduate level courses in:

     

     

    i.      Women's health nurse practitioner,

     

    i.      Advanced  physiology   and  pathophysiology,

     

     

    ii.     Neonatal nurse practitioner,

     

    including general principles across the lifespan;

     

    e.

    For a nurse-midwife, the American Midwifery Cer-

     

    ii.     Advanced health assessment, which includes

     

     

    tification Board certification program in nurse mid-

     

    assessment  of  all  human  systems,   advanced

     

     

    wifery,

     

    assessment          techniques,          concepts         and

     

    f.

    AACN Certification Corporation certification pro-

     

    approaches;

     

     

    grams:

     

    iii.   Advanced pharmacology, which includes phar-

     

     

    i.      Adult acute care nurse practitioner,

     

    macodynamics, pharmacokinetics and pharma-

     

     

    ii.     Adult-gerontology  acute  care  nurse  practi-

     

    cotherapeutics of all broad category agents;

     

     

    tioner,

     

    b.     Diagnosis and management of diseases across prac-

    2.

    For

    CNS:

     

    tice settings including diseases representative of all

     

    a.

    AACN Certification Corporation certification pro-

     

    systems;

     

     

    grams:

     

    c.      Preparation that provides a basic understanding of

     

     

    i.      Adult acute and critical care CNS,

     

    the principles for decision making in the identified

     

     

    ii.     Pediatric acute and critical care CNS,

     

    role;

     

     

    iii.   Neonatal acute and critical care CNS,

     

    d.     Preparation in the core competencies for the identi-

     

    b.

    American Nurses Credentialing Center certification:

     

    fied APRN role including legal, ethical and profes-

     

     

    i.      Adult psychiatric-mental health CNS,

     

    sional responsibilities; and

     

     

    ii.     Family psychiatric-mental health CNS,

     

     

    e. Role preparation in an identified population focus under R4-19-501.

    6.        Verifies that each student has an unencumbered license to practice as an RN in the state of clinical practice;

    7.        Includes a minimum of 500 hours of faculty supervised clinical practice (programs that prepare students for more than one role or population focus shall have 500 hours of clinical practice in each role and population focus);

    8.        Notifies the Board of any changes in hours of clinical practice, accreditation status, denial or deferral of accred- itation or program administrator and responds to Board requests for information;

    9.        Has financial resources sufficient to support accreditation standards and the educational goals of the program;

    10.     Establishes academic, professional, and conduct stan- dards that determine admission to the program, progres- sion in the program, and graduation from the program that are consistent with sound educational practices and recognized standards of professional conduct;

    11.     Establishes provisions for advanced placement for indi- viduals holding a graduate degree in nursing who are seeking education in an APRN role and population focus, provided that advanced placement students master the same APRN competencies as students in the graduate- level APRN program; and

    12.     Provides the Board an application for approval under the provisions of R4-19-209(B) before making changes to the:

    a.         Scope of the program, or

    b.        Level of educational preparation provided.

    B.       A CNS or RNP program shall appoint the following personnel:

    1.        An APRN program administrator who:

    a.         Holds a current unencumbered RN license or multi- state privilege to practice in Arizona and a current unencumbered APRN certificate issued by the Board;

    b.        Holds an earned doctorate in nursing or health- related field if appointed after the effective date of this Section;

    c.         Has at least two years clinical experience as an APRN; and

    d.        Holds current national certification as an APRN.

    2.        A lead faculty member who is educated and certified both nationally and by the Board in the same role and popula- tion focus to coordinate the educational component for the role and population focus in the advanced practice registered nursing program.

    3.        Nursing faculty to teach any APRN course that includes a clinical learning experience who have the following qual- ifications:

    a.         A current unencumbered RN license or multi-state privilege to practice registered nursing in Arizona;

    b.        A current unencumbered Arizona APRN certificate,

    c.         A graduate degree in nursing or a health related field in the population focus,

    d.        Two years of APRN clinical experience, and

    e.         Current knowledge, competence and certification as an APRN in the role and population focus consistent with teaching responsibilities.

    4.        Adjunct or part-time clinical faculty employed solely to supervise clinical nursing experiences shall meet all of the faculty qualifications for the APRN program they are teaching.

    5.        Interdisciplinary faculty who teach non-clinical courses shall have advanced preparation in the areas of course content.

    6.        Clinical preceptors may be used to enhance faculty- directed clinical learning experiences, but not to replace faculty. A clinical preceptor shall be approved by pro- gram administration or faculty and:

    a.         Hold a current unencumbered license or multistate privilege to practice as a registered nurse or physi- cian in the state in which the preceptor practices or, if employed by the federal government, holds a cur- rent unencumbered RN or physician license in the United States;

    b.        Have at least one year clinical experience as a physi- cian or an advanced practice nurse

    c.         Practice in a population focus comparable to that of the APRN program;

    d.        For nurse preceptors, have at least one of the follow- ing:

    i.         Current national certification in the advanced practice role and population focus of the course or program in which the student is enrolled;

    ii.      Current Board certification in the advanced practice role and population focus of the course or program in which the student is enrolled; or

    iii.      If an advanced practice preceptor cannot be found who meets the requirements of subsec- tion (B)(6)(d)(i) or (ii), educational and experi- ential qualifications that will enable the preceptor to precept students in the program, as determined by the nursing program and approved by the Board.

    C.      An entity that offers a CRNA program in Arizona shall main- tain full national program accreditation with no limitations from the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educa- tional Programs or  an equivalent  agency  approved by the Board. The program shall notify the Board of all program accreditation actions within 30 days of official notification by the accrediting agency.

Historical Note

Former Section IV, Part II; Amended effective February 20, 1980 (Supp. 80-1). Former Section R4-19-54 repealed, new Section R4-19-54 adopted effective July 20, 1981 (Supp. 81-4). Former Section R4-19-54 renum- bered as Section R4-19-502 (Supp. 86-1). Section repealed, new Section R4-19-502 renumbered from R4- 19-501 and Section heading amended effective Novem- ber 18, 1994 (Supp. 94-4). Section repealed, new Section R4-19-502 adopted effective November 25, 1996 (Supp.

96-4). Amended by final rulemaking at 11 A.A.R. 3804,

effective November 12, 2005 (05-3). Amended by final

rulemaking at 19 A.A.R. 1438, effective July 6, 2013

(Supp. 13-2).