Physician duties · CNM · Tennessee

Signing for a Certified Nurse-Midwife in Tennessee: what the physician takes on

The agreement is mandatory for the clinician, which makes its duties mandatory for you. Tennessee does not name a specific instrument.

Practice authoritySupervision required
Written agreementAgreement required
What Tennessee calls itNo named instrument
Research date2026-09-03

TN licenses CNMs as one of its APRN roles under the same general Certificate of Fitness/Collaborative Management Agreement framework as NPs (TCA § 63-7-123). No CNM-specific (obstetric) carve-out or independence pathway was confirmed in this research pass — treated as identical to general NP absent evidence otherwise.

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

On-site presence required

Assumed same standard as general NPs (in-person site visit every 30 days) — not independently confirmed as CNM-specific in this pass.

Supervision ratio

Not codified — no cap on file

Chart review

20% of charts · Monthly (every 30 days) · countersignature required

Assumed same standard as general NPs — not independently confirmed as CNM-specific in this pass.

Meeting cadence

Not codified — left to the agreement

Prescriptive authority

Separate prescribing terms required · controlled substances permitted

Assumed same formulary/CMA-based framework as general NPs; no CNM-specific (obstetric) schedule carve-out was confirmed in this research pass.

Written agreement

Required

Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)

Licensee-only ownership required — Same as the general `np` entry.

Legal sources for these rules (1)
  • Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-7-123 — Advanced Practice Nurse Certificate of Fitness; Collaborative Practice

What physicians charge for this role

Typical monthly compensation in Tennessee

$500$650

Estimate for one Certified Nurse-Midwife. This state's rules add a restrictive-tier premium.

About Tennessee's rules

TN is a restricted-practice state for NPs — no independence pathway exists. Physicians must personally review ≥20% of an APRN's charts every 30 days (100% of controlled-substance charts) and visit remote practice sites in person every 30 days. TN has an explicit, unambiguous corporate-practice-of-medicine ban (statute, case law, and AG opinions; TCA § 63-6-204) — a professional corporation may practice only a single profession.

Other clinicians in Tennessee: see the state overview.