Complete a Board of Registered Nursing-Approved Controlled Substance II (CS II) Authority Course. Submit the Continuing Education certificate, a written request for CS II Authority and a copy of the course outline to the following address:
California Board of Registered Nursing
Advanced Practice Unit
PO Box 944210
Sacramento, CA 94244-2100

If you are currently enrolled in an NP program, inquire with your educational institution regarding their plan to include this content if you have already completed your pharmacology course. Most, if not all, NP programs are including a separate lecture with the BRN-required content if the students have already finished their pharmacology course.

California’s Health and Safety Code Section 11154 (a) states: “Except in the regular practice of his or her profession, no person shall knowingly prescribe, administer, dispense, or furnish a controlled substance to or for any person or animal which is not under his or her treatment for a pathology or condition…” You may want to speak to an attorney for your specific situation if you are covering for other health care providers whose patients may require CS II medications in their absence. CANP offers members three free 15-minute legal consultations per year with an attorney who is also a licensed NP.

California law does not require a health care provider to utilize anti-fraud prescription blanks for CS medications if the patient is certified as “terminally ill” as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 11159.2 (d). The prescription must indicate that the prescriber has certified that the patient is terminally ill by printing the words "11159.2 exemption" on the prescription blank. Certification can only be made by a physician.

No, California law was changed and no longer requires the physician’s name and DEA number on a prescription pad of an NP. The California Board of Registered Nursing and California State Board of Pharmacy concur with this answer.

Yes, the SP must include a “patient-specific protocol” for CS II and III; additionally, the SP must address the diagnosis of illness, injury, or condition for which the CS II is to be furnished. Refer to details in the Business and Professions code.

View an example of controlled substance furnishing protocols.