West Virginia Code 30-7-2 – License required to practice
(a) It is unlawful for any person not licensed under the provisions of this article to practice or to offer to practice registered professional nursing in this state, or to use any title, sign, card or device to indicate that such person is a registered professional nurse: Provided, That any professional nurse holding an active, unencumbered license to practice in another state, who accompanies a patient to whom he or she administers nursing care while such patient is in transit or being transported into, out of, or through this state, may practice without a license issued under this article with the following limitations: (1) Such nurse may only administer nursing care to the patient whom they are accompanying in this state; and (2) under no circumstances is any such nurse authorized to practice nursing in this state for longer than forty-eight hours within any three-month period; and (3) under no circumstances shall any such nurse hold him or herself out as a registered professional nurse licensed in this state. Such forty-eight hour period shall commence and run from the time such nurse first enters the borders of this state in the company of his or her patient and therefrom run continuously, whether or not such nurse dispenses nursing care, until such forty-eight hour period has elapsed.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 30-7-2
- Advanced practice registered nurse: means a registered nurse who has acquired advanced clinical knowledge and skills preparing him or her to provide direct and indirect care to patients as a certified nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, certified registered nurse anesthetist, or clinical nurse specialist, who has completed a board-approved graduate-level education program and who has passed a board-approved national certification examination. See West Virginia Code 30-7-1
- Board: means the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses. See West Virginia Code 30-7-1
- registered professional nursing: means the performance for compensation of any service requiring substantial specialized judgment and skill based on knowledge and application of principles of nursing derived from the biological, physical and social sciences, such as responsible supervision of a patient requiring skill in observation of symptoms and reactions and the accurate recording of the facts, or the supervision and teaching of other persons with respect to such principles of nursing, or in the administration of medications and treatments as prescribed by a licensed physician, a licensed dentist or a licensed advanced practice registered nurse, or the application of such nursing procedures as involve understanding of cause and effect in order to safeguard life and health of a patient and others. See West Virginia Code 30-7-1
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(b) To practice as an advanced practice registered nurse in this state, a person must have a valid advanced practice registered nurse license issued by the board. It is unlawful for any person to practice or offer to practice as an advanced practice registered nurse, to use any title, sign, card or device to indicate or give the impression that such person is an advanced practice registered nurse or to practice as, perform the role of, or use any title, sign, card or device to indicate that the person is a certified registered nurse anesthetist, certified nurse-midwife, clinical nurse specialist or certified nurse practitioner, unless that person is currently licensed by the board as an advanced practice registered nurse.