Physician duties · CNS · South Dakota
Signing for a Clinical Nurse Specialist in South Dakota: what the physician takes on
Required in some cases; see the conditions below. South Dakota does not name a specific instrument.
Unlike SD's other APRN roles, CNS practice (SDCL 36-9-87) has no prescriptive authority and — for its one physician-facing act (ordering/dispensing durable medical equipment or therapeutic devices) — requires ongoing 'collaboration with a licensed physician, prior to care being provided.' No experience-based exit from that requirement was found.
What you take on as the physician
The rules the physician relationship has to follow. Each fact comes from the statute or board rule listed under sources.
Proximity
Not codified — left to the agreement
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified — left to the agreement
Meeting cadence
Not codified — left to the agreement
Prescriptive authority
Covered by the practice agreement · no controlled-substance authority
SDCL 36-9-87 grants no medication prescriptive authority to CNSs — their only physician-facing act is ordering/dispensing durable medical equipment or therapeutic devices in collaboration with a licensed physician. This resolves conflicting secondary sources: some describe SD CNSs as having no prescriptive authority at all, which this statute's text confirms for medications specifically.
Written agreement
Not required
No written-document requirement was found — the collaboration duty for DME/device orders is a per-instance, prior-to-care communication duty (SDCL 36-9-87(3)), not a signed agreement. Set False because SD does not gate CNS practice on an agreement DOCUMENT, but the ongoing physician-collaboration duty itself is real and unconditional — see notes above.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — SD professional-corporation statute for nursing services was not directly confirmed in this research pass — flagged as an open item.
Legal sources for these rules (1)
What physicians charge for this role
Typical monthly compensation in South Dakota
$500 – $600
Estimate for one Clinical Nurse Specialist. Standard-tier state.
About South Dakota's rules
SD is unusually permissive: NP/CNM need only 1,040 practice hours (or a collaborative agreement with ANY physician OR already-independent NP/CNM) to become fully independent (SDCL 36-9A), and a 2025 reform (SL 2025, ch 149) gives PAs the same kind of pathway after 6,000 hours plus NCCPA certification. Older sources citing a fixed PA-per-physician ratio are now outdated — that cap was repealed.
Other clinicians in South Dakota: see the state overview.