Can a nurse practitioner treat without a supervising physician in Tennessee?
Who treats · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
The cited rules do not settle this — they set only the physician's side: a physician supervising a certified nurse practitioner who prescribes must hold an unencumbered license. NP scope itself is set by the Board of Nursing, not this chapter.
A physician supervising a certified nurse practitioner who writes prescriptions must hold an unencumbered license, the rule stating this is the same requirement already applying to physicians who supervise physician assistants. Tennessee sets one supervisory standard across both roles rather than two.
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.14(12), referring to 0880-02-.18(1) and 0880-06-.02(1) · verified Sep 2, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
The rest of what Tennessee says on this
⚠️ The detailed scope of certified nurse practitioner practice is set by rule 0880-06 and by the Board of Nursing, not by chapter 0880-02, so this corpus does not state from this source whether a Tennessee nurse practitioner may practice without physician involvement. What chapter 0880-02 establishes is the supervising physician’s side of the arrangement.
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. ch. 0880-02 (scope of this chapter) · verified Sep 2, 2026
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