How many nurse practitioners can a physician supervise in North Carolina?
A physician may supervise any number of nurse practitioners in North Carolina. North Carolina law does not set a maximum number of NPs a physician can supervise; instead, the “appropriate amount of supervision” is determined case-by-case under Medical Board guidance, which considers the number of supervisees among other factors1.
Regardless of how many NPs are supervised, the NP and supervising physician must be continuously available to each other for consultation by direct communication or telecommunication2. Appropriate supervision also accounts for the practice setting, the physician and NP specialties, the NP’s training, experience, ongoing education, the time they have worked together, and the NP’s scope aligned with education and certification1.
Citations
- North Carolina Medical Board Position Statement 9.1.1: Physician supervision of other licensed health care professionals (Last Amended July 2025) (Last Visited Aug. 13, 2025), https://www.ncmedboard.org/resources-information/professional-resources/laws-rules-position-statements/position-statements/physician_supervision_of_other_licensed_health_care_practitioners
- 21 N.C. Admin. Code 36 .0810(1)
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