Arkansas scope of practice for med spas

RN / NP scope for injectables in Arkansas

ARKANSAS DRAWS ITS LINE AT WHERE THE DRUG IS GIVEN AND HOW CLOSE THE SUPERVISOR IS. Delegated administration of drugs covers only drugs that do not require substantial, specialized judgment and skill, and is permissible only WITHIN THE PHYSICAL BOUNDARIES of the delegating physician’s offices. For a physician assistant, a supervising or back-up supervising physician should be available for IMMEDIATE TELEPHONE CONTACT any time the assistant is rendering services to the public.

• A supervising physician and/or back-up supervising physician or physicians should be available for immediate telephone contact with the physician assistant any time the physician assistant is rendering services to the public.

  17 CAR § 140-1806 (Availability of supervising physician) · verified Sep 4, 2026

• (a) A physician may only delegate the administration of drugs that do not require substantial, specialized judgment and skill based on knowledge and application of the principles of biological, physical, and social sciences. (b) Administration of drugs, delegated pursuant to this section, shall only be permissible within the physical boundaries of the delegating physician’s offices.

  17 CAR § 140-2505(a)-(b) (Additional requirements for delegating the administration of drugs) · verified Sep 4, 2026

• (5) "Supervision" means the act by a physician in directing and overseeing an employee

  17 CAR § 140-2502(5) (definition of “Supervision”) · verified Sep 4, 2026

• ⛔ ARKANSAS IS A TWO-TIER STATE, AND THE HOURS ARE THE GATE. A certified nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist reaches FULL INDEPENDENT PRACTICE AUTHORITY only after being currently licensed in Arkansas with no encumbrance on any nursing license in any jurisdiction, holding an active prescriptive authority certificate, and having “Completed a minimum of six thousand two hundred forty (6,240) hours of practice: (A) Under a board-required agreement with a physician; or (B) In another state, territory, or foreign country that authorizes a certified nurse practitioner or a clinical nurse specialist to practice with prescriptive authority”. The application goes to the Arkansas State Board of Nursing or its Full Independent Practice Credentialing Committee with an affidavit of those hours.

  17 CAR § 123-702 (Full practice authority — certified nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist) · verified Sep 8, 2026

• UNTIL THEN THE AGREEMENT IS NOT OPTIONAL AND NEITHER IS THE PAPERWORK UNDER IT. “Protocols are required for all APRNs practicing under a collaborative practice agreement.” They must be available to the Arkansas State Board of Nursing on request, and must at a minimum state the “Indications for and classifications of legend drugs, controlled substances … and therapeutic devices that will be prescribed or administered by the APRN” together with the “Date the protocol was adopted or last reviewed, which shall be at least annually.”

  17 CAR § 123-603 (Protocols for prescriptive authority) · verified Sep 8, 2026