Physician duties · CNS · Utah

Signing for a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Utah: what the physician takes on

No agreement is required, so the terms are whatever you both negotiate. Clinical Nurse Specialists practice independently in Utah, so any agreement is voluntary.

Practice authorityIndependent practice
Written agreementNo agreement required
What Utah calls itNo instrument required
Research date2026-09-03

S.B. 36 (2023) eliminated the collaborating-physician contract requirement for CNSs along with other APRN roles — CNSs practice independently with no agreement.

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

No proximity requirement

No collaborating-physician relationship required post-S.B. 36.

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 · controlled substances permitted

CNSs prescribe within their own Utah Controlled Substance License and DEA registration with no agreement-based gating post-S.B. 36.

Written agreement

Not required

Unconditional since S.B. 36 (2023).

Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)

Licensee-only ownership required — Professional Corporation (Title 16, Ch. 11) or Professional LLC (§ 48-3a-1106) — a CNS may independently own a single-profession nursing PC/PLLC; non-licensees may not hold equity.

Legal sources for these rules (2)

What physicians charge for this role

Typical monthly compensation in Utah

$500$600

Estimate for one Clinical Nurse Specialist. Standard-tier state.

About Utah's rules

S.B. 36 (2023) eliminated the physician-collaboration/contract requirement for ALL APRN roles (NP, CRNA, CNM, CNS), not just NPs — Utah is a full-independence state across the APRN scope. PAs remain on a separate, hours-tiered collaboration model (Utah Code § 58-70a-307) with no numeric ratio cap or chart-review percentage codified.

Other clinicians in Utah: see the state overview.