Board staff receive phone calls and e-mails on a regular basis regarding practice issues and questions. This section of the BON web site contains information on many topics of concern or confusion for LVNs, RNs, and those who work with licensed nurses in Texas.
If you do not locate the information you need, e-mail the Board at: webmaster@bon.texas.gov for additional information.
Please Note: New information will be added on an ongoing basis. Please check back frequently!
You can search for specific text on this page by clicking the Edit menu, and then clicking Find (on this page).
Abandonment
Advanced Practice Nursing
Alternative & Complementary Therapies
- Position Statement 15.23 - The RNs Use of Complementary Modalities
- Position Statement 15.9 - Performance of Laser Therapy by RNs or LVNs
Copying a Nursing License
Continuing Education
Board Position Statements
- (web view or pfd version)
Delegation
- Rule 224 - Delegation of Nursing Tasks by Registered Professional Nurses to Unlicensed Personnel for Clients with Acute Conditions or in Acute Care Environments
- Rule 225 - RN Delegation to Unlicensed Personnel and Tasks Not Requiring Delegation in Independent Living Environments for Clients with Stable and Predictable Conditions
- Delegation Resource Packet
- Paramedics/EMTs in the Emergency Department (ED)
Drug Use by Nurses
Documentation
- Co-signature on Documentation relating to Graduate Nurses and Graduate Vocational Nurses
- Co-signature on LVN Actions/Documentation
Employment Issues
- Proposed Nursing Work Hours Position Statement - The Texas Board of Nursing's (BON) Nursing Practice Advisory Committee (NPAC) initiated an online survey concerning
nursing work hours which was conducted on the BON web site. The survey was developed in response to research done by
the Institute of Medicine which showed that working shifts longer than 12.5 hours per day and more than 60 hours per
week may cause increased incidence of nursing errors and diminished patient safety. A public hearing was held to solicit
further public feedback concerning nursing work hours on April 18, 2007. Feedback obtained from the public hearing, as
well as from the BON survey data, was considered by the Board concerning adoption of a proposed position statement
(included in the January, 2007, Texas Board of Nursing Bulletin) relating to nursing work hours. The Board voted to
send the proposed position statement back to the NPAC for further consideration. The linked document below was taken
from the April 2007 Texas Board of Nursing's Bulletin (web version).
Nursing Work Hours Summary Document
pdf - Floating
- Overtime, Hours of Work
- Staffing Ratios
First Assisting
Guidelines
- Rules and Guidelines Governing the Graduate Vocational and Registered Nurse Candidates or Newly Licensed Vocational or Registered Nurse
- Guidelines for Transitioning of the Experienced Nurse either back into clinical practice or into a new practice setting
Moderate (Conscious) Sedation
Laws Impacting Nursing (Other than the Nursing Practice Act and the Board's Rules and Regulations)
- EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act)
- FAQs - Nurse's Role with the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act
Licensure Issues
- Graduate Vocational Nurse and/or Graduate Nurse
- Rule 220 - Nurse Licensure Compact
Nursing Process
Peer Review
- Rule 217.16 - Minor Incidents
- Rule 217.19 - Incident-Based Nursing Peer Review and Whistleblower Protections
- Rule 217.20 - Safe Harbor Peer Review and Whistleblower Protections
- Peer Review Frequently Asked Questions (web view or pdf version)
- Nursing Peer Review Statutes and Rules Reference Table
Poison Control Information
Position Statements
- Complete set of the Texas Board of Nursing Position Statements relating to Practice (web view or pdf version)
Practice Setting/Specialty Area Specific
- Surgery (See First Assisting)
- Home Health - GNs, GVNs, and Newly Licensed Nurses Practicing in Home Health Settings
- MOU – 2001: Defines circumstances under which the provision of health-related tasks or services by a home and community support services agency (HCSSA) does not constitute the practice of professional nursing. pdf
- MOU – 2011: Outlines the requirements that will apply to a state-wide pilot program implemented by DADS, and how the program relates to when telephone on-call services may be provided by a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN). pdf
- School
Nurse Quick Card Review pdf
- School Nurse With Unlicensed Diabetes Care Assistants (UDCAs)
- Position Statement 15.13 Role of the LVNs & RNs As School Nurses
Community Based Services
School Nursing
Pronouncement of Death
- by Registered Nurse (with/without Life Support)
- Texas Statute re: Pronouncement of Death
- Position Statement 15.20 - Nurses in the Management of an Unwitnessed Arrest in a Resident in a Long Term Care Facility
Safe Harbor (See Peer Review)
Scope of Practice
- Position Statement 15.27 The Licensed Vocational Nurse Scope of Practice
PDF version for printing - Position Statement 15.27 The Licensed Vocational Nurse Scope of Practice
Web version for viewing - Position Statement 15.28 The Registered Nurse Scope of Practice
PDF version for printing - Position Statement 15.28 The Registered Nurse Scope of Practice
Web version for viewing - FAQ - List of Tasks a Nurse Can/Cannot Perform
- Rule 217.11 - Standards of Nursing Practice
- LVN's Performing Triage/Telephonic Nursing/Being On-Call
- LVN's Performing Initial Assessments
- LVN's and Nursing Care Plans
- LVN's "Supervision of Practice"
- Six-Step Decision-Making Model for Determining Nursing Scope of Practice (Document) pdf
- Six-Step Decision-Making Model for Determining Nursing Scope of Practice (Poster) pdf
- Scope of Practice Poster pdf
- Additional information on APN Scope of Practice
- Position Statement 15.14 - Duty of a Nurse in any Practice Setting
- When Does a Nurse's Duty to a Patient Begin?
Substance Abuse
- Eligibility and Disciplinary Sanctions for Nurses with Substance Abuse, Misuse, Substance Dependency, or other Substance Use Disorder pdf
- Information Regarding Substance Abuse and Misuse of Certain Prescription Drugs: Health Professionals resources on the appropriate use of pain medication as well as the misuse and diversion of addictive medication