| Course | NU 715 Telehealth to Expand Health Care Access and Delivery |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 4 |
| Paper type | State licensure and compact analysis |
| Length | About 1,020 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | MSN |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU 715 Unit 4
May a Missouri-Resident Nurse Practitioner Treat a Heart Failure Patient Sitting in Kansas by Video Today? A Licensure and Compact Analysis
Student Name
Department of Nursing, Herzing University
NU 715: Telehealth to Expand Health Care Access and Delivery
Instructor Name
February 11, 2026
May a Missouri-Resident Nurse Practitioner Treat a Heart Failure Patient Sitting in Kansas by Video Today? A Licensure and Compact Analysis
The Facts
Clinician: a family nurse practitioner, Ms. Carter, employed by a composite rural Kansas health system in its remote heart failure program. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri, which is her primary state of residence. Her licenses: a multistate registered nurse license issued by Missouri under the Nurse Licensure Compact; an advanced practice registered nurse license issued by Missouri; and an advanced practice registered nurse license issued by Kansas, obtained when she was hired. She holds national certification as a family nurse practitioner.
Location during the encounter: she is working from her home office in Missouri. The patient, Mr. Lee, is at his home in a rural Kansas county.
The encounter: a scheduled video follow-up seven days after discharge for heart failure, including assessment, medication adjustment by prescription of a diuretic dose change, and teaching. No controlled substances are involved.
Question: may she lawfully conduct this encounter today, and which single change in the facts would change the answer?
The Governing Principle: The Patient's Location
For telehealth, nursing is generally treated as taking place in the state where the patient sits during the visit. The clinician's location affects employment and tax matters but does not, by itself, determine which state's practice law applies. This encounter is therefore the practice of nursing, and of advanced practice nursing, in Kansas, and Ms. Carter must hold authority to practice in Kansas for both the registered nurse and the advanced practice components.
The Registered Nurse Component
Both Missouri and Kansas participate in the Nurse Licensure Compact. Under the compact, a nurse whose primary state of residence is a compact state and who holds a multistate license issued by that state may practice as a registered nurse in any other compact state, in person or by telehealth, while following the nursing practice act of the patient's state (National Council of State Boards of Nursing [NCSBN], 2015a). The enhanced compact, which took effect in 2018, set uniform licensure requirements across member states to support this mobility (Puente, 2017). Ms. Carter's Missouri multistate license, with Missouri as her primary state of residence, therefore authorizes her registered nurse practice in Kansas.
The Advanced Practice Component
The compact extends only to RNs and LPNs; it does not confer authority to practice as an advanced practice registered nurse. A separate compact for advanced practice registered nurses has been adopted by a small number of states, but it does not take effect until a threshold number of states have enacted it, and it is not yet operational (NCSBN, 2015b). Ms. Carter's advanced practice authority in Kansas therefore depends on a Kansas advanced practice license, which she holds. Her Missouri advanced practice license, and any collaborative practice arrangement it requires, governs her practice with patients located in Missouri, not in Kansas.
Scope of Practice Within Kansas
Holding a Kansas license answers whether she may practice; Kansas law then determines what she may do. The diuretic adjustment, assessment, and teaching fall within the ordinary scope of a family nurse practitioner. Kansas changed its law in 2022 to remove the requirement for a physician collaboration agreement for advanced practice registered nurses to prescribe; she should confirm with the Kansas Board of Nursing's current regulations, and with her employer's credentialing office, that her prescriptive authority is active and that she has met any transition requirements. The employing health system has credentialed and privileged her for telehealth, which is a separate organizational requirement.
Answer
Yes. On these facts, Ms. Carter may conduct this encounter today: her Missouri multistate license authorizes registered nurse practice in Kansas through the compact, and her Kansas advanced practice license authorizes the advanced practice components, including the prescription change. Her physical location in Missouri does not change this.
The Single Fact That Would Change the Answer
The patient's location. If Mr. Lee were visiting his daughter in Nebraska during the visit, the encounter would be advanced practice nursing in Nebraska. Ms. Carter's registered nurse practice would still be covered, since Nebraska participates in the compact, but she holds no Nebraska advanced practice license, so she could not assess and prescribe as a nurse practitioner. The service therefore confirms and documents the patient's location at the start of every video visit. If a patient is outside Kansas and Missouri, the clinician limits the contact to what the licenses allow, such as general support and advice to seek local care, and reschedules the visit for when the patient returns or arranges care in the patient's current state.
What the Service Records at Each Visit
Because the answer depends on facts that can change from visit to visit, the service records them each time rather than relying on the patient's address in the chart. At the start of every video or telephone visit, the clinician asks, "Where are you right now?" and records the city and state, along with the clinician's own location. The scheduling system flags any clinician whose license set does not include the state the patient reports, before the visit begins. Each clinician's licenses, their expiration dates, and their primary state of residence are tracked by the credentialing office, and a clinician who moves to a new state notifies the office, since a change in primary state of residence changes which state issues the multistate license. For Ms. Carter, the record shows her Kansas advanced practice license renewal date, and the credentialing office sends a reminder 90 days before it. A lapse in that single license would stop her from seeing Kansas patients as a nurse practitioner even though every other license remained valid.
Related Questions This Analysis Does Not Settle
Prescribing controlled substances by telehealth raises separate federal registration and state requirements, which apply if the service later includes them. Payment rules differ by payer and may require the patient to be in a particular type of location. And Ms. Carter's employer must confirm that its malpractice coverage extends to services she provides from Missouri to patients in Kansas. Each of these is a separate question.
References
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2015a). Nurse Licensure Compact [Model legislation]. National Council of State Boards of Nursing.
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2015b). APRN Compact [Model legislation]. National Council of State Boards of Nursing.
Puente, J. (2017). The enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact: Important information for nurse executives. Nurse Leader, 15(6), 399-402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2017.09.007
What the NU 715 Unit 4 instructions ask for
Unit 4 asks you to analyze whether a clinician may provide telehealth to a patient in a particular state. Expect to state the facts, identify the governing principle, apply licensure rules for both registered nurse and advanced practice roles, consider compacts, address scope of practice in the patient's state and reach an answer. Many versions ask what facts would change the answer. Check whether your section assigns states or lets you choose. Cite the Nurse Licensure Compact, the APRN Compact where relevant and state statutes. The compact does not cover advanced practice authority, a point graders often test. This is an academic analysis, not legal advice, and a sentence saying so is wise if your instructions mention it.
Inside the NU 715 Unit 4 example
The analysis opens with facts stated precisely: clinician, residence, licenses held, employer, patient location and what the visit involves. The principle section explains that telehealth care is located where the patient is. Two sections then separate the registered nurse and advanced practice components, showing that the compact answers one but not the other. A scope section explains that Kansas law governs what may be done in this visit. The answer is given in a single sentence with its basis. A short section shows how moving the patient across a state line would reverse the result, which turns the analysis into a practical check. The final sections describe what the service records each visit and list related issues, such as controlled substance prescribing, that this analysis does not settle.
Where the points sit in the NU 715 Unit 4 rubric
Herzing grades a licensure analysis on the statement of facts, the identification of the governing rule, the application to registered nurse and advanced practice authority, scope of practice, the conclusion and writing. The application row is usually heaviest and earns full marks when the paper separates RN compact privileges from APRN licensure correctly. Rule points require accurate citations to compact and statute. Scope criteria look for the patient's state law applied to the actual acts in the visit. Conclusion points go to a clear answer with its basis and the facts that would change it. Practical implications, such as recording location, may be credited. References follow APA 7 with legal citations, including the NCSBN compact documents and Puente on the enhanced compact.
NU 715 Unit 4 help: mistakes that cost points
The common Unit 4 error is assuming the Nurse Licensure Compact covers nurse practitioner practice. Another frequent mistake is applying the clinician's home state scope rather than the patient's. Students often state the answer without the facts it depends on. Where the patient physically sits during the call is sometimes ignored, though it decides everything. Citing a summary map instead of the compact and statutes weakens the analysis. Some papers wander into payment or prescribing questions without resolving licensure. Finally, give a clear answer, because an analysis that ends with it depends, without saying on what, leaves the grader unsure you reached a conclusion.
Get a NU 715 Unit 4 example written to your instructions
Send the Unit 4 instructions and the rubric from your NU 715 classroom, plus the states involved and the license you hold or are writing about. We write a custom example with the fact pattern set out, the controlling principle applied, compact participation checked in both directions and prescribing handled separately, returned in 24 to 48 hours. The first custom sample is free.
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NU 715 Unit 4 questions, answered
Can you tell me whether I may treat a patient in another state?
No, and no sample should. That answer depends on your license, your certification, the state your patient is in, and rules that change between legislative sessions, so it comes from the boards involved rather than from a page like this one. What the example models is the method: facts stated, the controlling principle applied, the compact checked both ways, and every rule traced to its issuer.
Which sources count as authoritative here?
The bodies that issue the rules: the boards of nursing for both states, the state practice act itself, the compact administrator for membership, and the federal registration authorities for prescribing. Professional associations are useful for orientation and are not the rule. Where you cite a secondary summary, say what it summarizes and give the date you checked it, since these change without notice.
Does the compact solve the whole problem?
It solves one part. A multistate privilege can let you hold a single license and practice in participating states, and it does not override the practice act, the scope, the prescribing registrations or the documentation requirements where your patient sits. Say what remains once the compact has been applied, because that residue is where most of the credit in this section sits.
Where can I find a free NU 715 Unit 4 sample paper?
The complete NU 715 Unit 4 Missouri to Kansas licensure analysis is posted here for free, from the facts to the answer and the fact that would change it. A custom analysis can work through the states and roles in your own scenario.
Does the Nurse Licensure Compact cover nurse practitioners?
No. The Nurse Licensure Compact covers registered and practical nurses only. A nurse practitioner needs advanced practice authority in the patient's state, so this sample's clinician uses her compact privilege for RN practice and a Kansas APRN license for the rest.