RN AND LPN SCSCOPE
OPE OF PRA
PRACTICE:
CTICE:
COMPONENTS O
OFF NURS
NURSING
ING COMPARISO
COMPARISONN CHART
POSITION STATEMENT
for RN and LPN Practice
A Position Statement does not carry the force and effect of law and rules but is adopted by the Board as a means
of providing direction to licensees who seek to engage in safe nursing practice. Board Position Statements
address issues of concern to the Board relevant to protection of the public and are reviewed regularly for relevance
and accuracy to current practice, the Nursing Practice Act, and Board Administrative Code Rules.
By law, the scopes of practice for the registered nurse (RN) and the license practical nurse (LPN) differ. The RN functions at an
independent level while the LPN functions at a dependent level. This chart provides a snapshot comparison. For more
information, please refer to the NCBON’s RN Scope of Practice – Clarification Position Statement and the LPN Scope of
Practice – Clarification Position Statement available on the North Carolina Board of Nursing’s website (www.ncbon.com) under
Practice – Position Statements.
Components of RN Scope of Practice LPN Scope of Practice
Nursing Practice Independent role Dependent role
Accepting an Accepts assignment based on variables in nursing Accepts assignment dependent on practice setting
Assignment practice setting and individual competency variables including availability of RN supervision, &
individual competency
Assessment Responsible for comprehensive ongoing assessment Participates in on-going assessment:
to determine nursing care needs: • Collects data
• Collects, verifies, analyzes, and interprets data • Recognizes relationship to health status &
in relation to health status treatment
• Formulates nursing diagnoses • Determines immediate need for intervention
• Determines extent and frequency of assessment
needed
Planning Develops client plan of care: Participates in planning:
• Identifies client’s needs • Suggests goals and interventions to RN
• Prioritizes nursing diagnoses
• Determines nursing care goals
• Determines interventions appropriate to client
Implementation Implements plan of care: Implements established plan of care with following
• Procures resources limitations:
• Assigns, delegates, and supervises licensed and • RN supervision required
unlicensed personnel • Assignment to other LPNs and delegation to
UAPs
• Supervision by LPN limited to assuring that
tasks have been completed according to
agency policies and procedures
Evaluation Evaluates and determines effectiveness of nursing Participates in evaluation by:
interventions and achievement of expected • Identifies client’s response to nursing
outcomes intervention and suggests to RN revision to
• Modifies plan of care plan of care
Reporting and Reports and Records Reports and Records
Recording
Collaborating • Communicates & works with those whose Participates in collaboration as assigned.
services may affect client’s health care
• Initiates collaboration through coordinating,
planning, and implementing nursing care of
client within the multidisciplinary team
• Participates in multidisciplinary decision-making
• Seeks & utilizes appropriate resources
Page 1 of 2
NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF NURSING RN AND LPN SCOPE OF PRACTICE:
PO BOX 2129 – Raleigh, NC 27602 COMPONENTS OF NURSINNG
(919) 782-3211 – FAX (919) 781-9461 COMPARISON CHART
Nurse Aide II Registry (919) 782-7499 POSITION STATEMENT
www.ncbon.com for RN and LPN Practice
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