I85PREP
⌘ K
KY Jurisprudence study materials
KY Jurisprudence study resources

KY Jurisprudence: Kentucky Statutes and Administrative Regulations Governing Practice, Scope of Practice, Supervision, and Delegation

KY Jurisprudence · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Kentucky Statutes and Administrative Regulations Governing Practice, Scope of Practice, Supervision, and Delegation

This domain tests how Kentucky law defines nursing practice and where the lines fall among RN, LPN, APRN, and unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) roles. The controlling sources are KRS Chapter 314 and 201 KAR Chapter 20; a facility job description cannot expand a license.

Scope of practice

  • KRS 314.011 defines nursing practice as acts requiring specialized knowledge, judgment, and skill, including assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, intervention, evaluation, medication administration, teaching, and supervision.
  • The RN practices within the independent nursing scope and may perform comprehensive assessment, nursing diagnosis, care planning, and evaluation.
  • The LPN practices under the direction of an RN, physician, or other authorized provider, contributes to data collection, and implements planned care but does not independently perform the comprehensive nursing process.
  • APRN practice is authorized under KRS 314.042 and Board regulations. Kentucky APRN prescriptive authority requires a collaborative agreement with a physician; it is not full independent prescribing.

Supervision and delegation

  • 201 KAR 20:400 governs delegation to UAP. Delegation is task- and situation-specific, and the delegating RN retains accountability.
  • The task must be within the delegator's scope, must not require nursing judgment, must be for a stable and predictable patient, must be performed by a competent delegate, and must have supervision available.
  • The nursing process, initial assessment, teaching, evaluation, and medication administration cannot be delegated except as specifically authorized by regulation.
  • Supervision means guidance and periodic inspection of the delegated task; it is not the same as transferring accountability.

Worked example. An RN delegates vital signs to a UAP for a stable postoperative patient. The UAP reports a heart rate of 120 and dizziness. The RN must reassess the patient, notify the provider, and document the change. The task was delegable only while the patient was stable; the change in condition returns the assessment to the RN.

Traps. Assuming an LPN may perform every RN task; assuming delegation transfers liability; treating employer policy as authority to exceed scope; forgetting the APRN collaborative-agreement requirement.