851-045-0060 Standards Related to RN Scope in the Practice of Nursing (1) The RN’s practice of registered nursing is independent and can occur in a variety of roles. Such roles commonly include but are not limited to: (a) Nursing administration; (b) Nursing education; (c) Health care policy development, implementation and evaluation; (d) Consultation in the practice of nursing; (e) Provision of direct care; (f) Clinical direction and clinical supervision of others; (g) Health promotion and wellness; (h) Case management; (i) Nursing research; (j) Teaching health care professionals and prospective practice team members; (k) Nursing Informatics; and (l) With additional education, professional certification, and licensure, engagement in an advanced practice registered nurse practice role. (2) The RN’s engagement in the practice of registered nursing occurs through the following actions: (a) Assessment of client to identify their overall response to their current state of health that brought them into contact with the RN; (b) Identification of reasoned conclusions based on validation, analysis and synthesis of assessment data. (c) Identification of expected outcomes for reasoned conclusions. (d) Development of a plan of care to: (A) Prioritize reasoned conclusions; (B) Identify interventions to attain expected outcomes; (C) Identify implementation responsibilities, timelines and documentation requirements; and (D) Utilization of language appropriate to the context of care. (e) Implementation of plan of care. RN may include utilization of practice team members to carry out planned interventions per the context of care. (f) Evaluation of client progress toward expected outcomes through: (A) Ongoing collection and analysis of assessment data; and (B) Revision of reasoned conclusions, expected outcomes, planned interventions, implementation responsibilities and timelines as indicated by clinical judgment. (3) The RN may assign plan of care interventions to a practice team member per the context of care. (a) The RN may assign: (A) To an RN, work the RN is authorized by license and organizational position description to perform in the setting. (B) To an LPN, work the LPN is authorized by license and organizational position description to perform in the setting. (C) To a UAP, work the UAP is authorized by organizational position description to perform in the setting. (D) To a CNA: (i) OAR 851-063-0030 authorized duties the CNA is authorized by organizational position description to perform in the setting. (ii) An additional authorized duty per OAR 851-063-0035, when the CNA has been validated by an RN representing the employment site as competent in their performance of the additional duty. (E) To a CMA, OAR 851-063-0070 authorized duties the CMA is authorized by organizational position description to perform in the setting. (b) Prior to assigning work, the RN must know the duties, functions, activities or interventions the recipient is authorized to perform. (c) The RN who assigns work must: (A) Assign according to the health, safety and welfare of their client; (B) Provide supervision and evaluation of assigned work in a manner consistent with: (i) The context of care; and (ii) The RN’s nursing practice relationship with the team member who accepts the assignment. (C) Revise how work is distributed as indicated by client outcome data, availability of qualified practice team members and other appropriate resources. (d) The RN who agrees to act as a nurse intern (NI) supervisor must: (A) Assign to the nurse intern only those functions authorized for performance by a NI per OAR Chapter 851, Division 41; (B) Maintain a physical presence in the NI’s practice setting; and (C) Be readily available to the NI either in person or by other means. (4) The RN must employ strategies that promote health and safety. (a) Such strategies may include providing opportunity for the client to identify needed health promotion, disease prevention and self-management topics. (b) The RN who engages in teaching to promote health and safety must apply evidence-based teaching and learning principles in the development, implementation and evaluation of teaching plans and the evaluation of learner outcomes. (c) Based on the RN’s context of care, teaching content may include but is not limited to: (A) Teaching a client’s family member how to execute a medical order; (B) Teaching a designated caregiver how to execute a medical order per OAR Chapter 851, Division 48; (C) Teaching a UAP how to perform a client’s nursing procedure per OAR Chapter 851, Division 47; (D) Teaching a practice team member how to administer a regularly scheduled or pro re nata (PRN) noninjectable medication to a client; (E) Teaching a practice team member how to administer PRN injectable or noninjectable lifesaving medication to a specific client; (F) Teaching a group of people how to administer noninjectable medications to other persons; and (G) Teaching a group of people how to administer a lifesaving medication to another person per ORS 433.800 to 433.830, ORS 689.681, or ORS 339.869. (d) The RN may teach and validate a CNA to perform one or more additional authorized duties as listed in OAR 851-063-0035(2). (A) The RN must represent or be employed by the CNA’s employment site. (B) Once the RN validates the CNA is competent to perform the additional duty, the duty may then be assigned to the CNA by nurses in the employing organization. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 678.150 & HB 4003 2022 Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 678.150, ORS 678.010 & ORS 339.869 History: BN 35-2025, temporary amend filed 11/24/2025, effective 11/24/2025 through 12/31/2025 BN 25-2025, amend filed 11/20/2025, effective 11/20/2025 BN 4-2025, temporary amend filed 02/21/2025, effective 03/01/2025 through 06/30/2025 BN 3-2024, amend filed 06/20/2024, effective 07/01/2024 BN 16-2022, amend filed 12/27/2022, effective 01/01/2023 BN 10-2022, amend filed 07/26/2022, effective 08/01/2022 BN 8-2017, f. 7-7-17, cert. ef. 8-1-17 BN 4-2008, f. & cert. ef. 6-24-08