Chapter 441

CHAPTER 441

BOARD OF NURSING

SUBCHAPTER I

REGULATION OF NURSING

441.001   Definitions.

441.01   Board of nursing.

441.06   Licensure; civil liability exemptions.

441.07   Disciplinary proceedings and actions.

441.08   Temporary permit.

441.10   Licensed practical nurses.

441.11   Nurse anesthetists.

441.115   Exceptions; temporary practice.

441.12   Administration; nonaccredited schools.

441.13   Penalty.

441.15   Nurse-midwives.

441.16   Prescription privileges of nurses.

441.18   Prescriptions for and delivery of opioid antagonists.

441.19   Maintenance and detoxification treatment under federal waiver.

SUBCHAPTER II

NURSE LICENSURE COMPACT

441.51   Nurse licensure compact.

Ch. 441 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See definitions in s. 440.01.

subch. I of ch. 441 SUBCHAPTER I

REGULATION OF NURSING

Subch. I of ch. 441 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also N, Wis. adm. code.

441.001 441.001 Definitions. In this subchapter:

441.001(1g) (1g) Board. “Board” means the board of nursing.

441.001(1r) (1r) Compensation. “Compensation” includes indirect compensation, direct compensation, and the expectation of compensation, whether actually received or not.

441.001(2) (2) Nurse. Except as provided under s. 441.08, “nurse,” when used without modification or amplification, means only a registered nurse.

441.001(2m) (2m) Nursing. “Nursing,” when used without modification or amplification, means professional nursing.

441.001(3) (3) Practical nursing.

441.001(3)(a) (a) “Practical nursing” means the performance for compensation of any simple acts in the care of convalescent, subacutely or chronically ill, injured or infirm persons, or of any act or procedure in the care of the more acutely ill, injured or infirm under the specific direction of a nurse, physician, podiatrist licensed under ch. 448, chiropractor licensed under ch. 446, dentist licensed under ch. 447 or optometrist licensed under ch. 449, or under an order of a person who is licensed to practice medicine, podiatry, chiropractic, dentistry or optometry in another state if that person prepared the order after examining the patient in that other state and directs that the order be carried out in this state.

441.001(3)(b) (b) In par. (a), “simple act” means an act to which all of the following apply:

441.001(3)(b)1. 1. The act does not require any substantial nursing skill, knowledge, or training, or the application of nursing principles based on biological, physical, or social sciences, or the understanding of cause and effect in the act.

441.001(3)(b)2. 2. The act is one that is of a nature of those approved by the board for the curriculum of schools for licensed practical nurses.

441.001(4) (4) Professional nursing. “Professional nursing” means the performance for compensation of any act in the observation or care of the ill, injured, or infirm, or for the maintenance of health or prevention of illness of others, that requires substantial nursing skill, knowledge, or training, or application of nursing principles based on biological, physical, and social sciences. Professional nursing includes any of the following:

441.001(4)(a) (a) The observation and recording of symptoms and reactions.

441.001(4)(b) (b) The execution of procedures and techniques in the treatment of the sick under the general or special supervision or direction of a physician, podiatrist licensed under ch. 448, chiropractor licensed under ch. 446, dentist licensed under ch. 447, or optometrist licensed under ch. 449, or under an order of a person who is licensed to practice medicine, podiatry, chiropractic, dentistry, or optometry in another state if the person making the order prepared the order after examining the patient in that other state and directs that the order be carried out in this state.

441.001(4)(c) (c) The execution of general nursing procedures and techniques.

441.001(4)(d) (d) Except as provided in s. 50.04 (2) (b), the supervision of a patient and the supervision and direction of licensed practical nurses and less skilled assistants.

441.001 History History: 1975 c. 303; 1977 c. 86; 1981 c. 314, 317; 1983 a. 189; 1983 a. 273 s. 8; 1987 a. 264; 1991 a. 181; 1997 a. 62; 1999 a. 22; 2001 a. 107 ss. 72, 75 to 80; Stats. 2001 s. 441.001; 2003 a. 321; 2005 a. 149; 2017 a. 180; 2017 a. 364 ss. 32, 33.

441.001 Annotation This section is not a safety statute. Leahy v. Kenosha Memorial Hospital, 118 Wis. 2d 441, 348 N.W.2d 607 (Ct. App. 1984).

441.01 441.01 Board of nursing.

441.01(3) (3) The board may establish minimum standards for schools for professional nurses and schools for licensed practical nurses, including all related clinical units and facilities, and make and provide periodic surveys and consultations to such schools. It may also establish rules to prevent unauthorized persons from practicing professional nursing. It shall approve all rules for the administration of this chapter in accordance with ch. 227.

441.01(4) (4) The board shall direct that those schools that qualify be placed on a list of schools the board has approved for professional nurses or of schools the board has approved for licensed practical nurses on application and proof of qualifications; and shall make a study of nursing education and initiate rules and policies to improve it.

441.01(5) (5) The board may promote the professional education of graduate registered nurses licensed in Wisconsin, through creation of scholarships available to such graduate registered nurses, by foundation of professorships in nursing courses in Wisconsin colleges and universities, by conducting educational meetings, seminars, lectures, demonstrations and the like open to registered nurses, by publication and dissemination of technical information or by other similar activities designed to improve the standards of the nursing profession in this state. The board may promote the training of licensed practical nurses through support of workshops and institutes and by conducting meetings, lectures, demonstrations and the like open to licensed practical nurses.

441.01(6) (6) The board shall investigate any nurse anesthetist who is found to have acted negligently by a panel established under s. 655.02, 1983 stats., or by a court.

441.01(7) (7) 

441.01(7)(a) (a) The board shall require each applicant for the renewal of a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse license issued under this chapter to do all of the following as a condition for renewing the license:

441.01(7)(a)1. 1. Complete and submit to the department with the application for renewal of the license a nursing workforce survey developed by the department of workforce development under s. 106.30 (2).

441.01(7)(a)2. 2. Pay a nursing workforce survey fee of $4. All moneys received under this subdivision shall be deposited into the general fund and credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.165 (1) (jm).

441.01(7)(b) (b) The board may not renew a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse license under this chapter unless the renewal applicant has completed the nursing workforce survey to the satisfaction of the board. The board shall establish standards to determine whether the survey has been completed. The board shall, by no later than June 30 of each odd-numbered year, submit all completed nursing workforce survey forms to the department of workforce development.

441.01 History History: 1971 c. 125; 1975 c. 37; 1977 c. 29, 418; 1979 c. 34; 1983 a. 253, 1983 a. 273 ss. 2, 8; 1985 a. 340; 1987 a. 264; 1999 a. 22; 2009 a. 28; 2013 a. 124; 2017 a. 329, 364.

441.01 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also chs. N 1 and 2, Wis. adm. code.

441.06 441.06 Licensure; civil liability exemptions.

441.06(1) (1) Subject to s. 441.07 (1g), the board shall grant a license as a registered nurse to an applicant for licensure who complies with all of the following requirements:

441.06(1)(a) (a) The applicant graduates from a high school or its equivalent as determined by the board.

441.06(1)(b) (b) The applicant does not have an arrest or conviction record, subject to ss. 111.321, 111.322, and 111.335.