Ala. Code
Code of Alabama

Ala. Code § 34-21-1 (2026)

Definitions.

✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
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For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the respective meanings ascribed by this section:

(1) ADVISORY COUNCILS. Advisory councils provided for under the terms of this chapter.

(2) BOARD. The Board of Nursing created hereunder.

(3) COMPACT. The Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact provided in Article 7.

(4) COORDINATED LICENSE INFORMATION SYSTEM. A licensing integrated database and process for collecting, storing, and sharing nurse licensure and enforcement information that includes all licensed registered nurses and licensed practical/vocational nurses. The system includes all disciplinary history of each nurse, as administered by a nonprofit organization and controlled by licensing boards.

(5) LICENSED PRACTICAL NURSE. A person who is currently licensed to practice practical nursing. For the purposes of the Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact, practical nursing includes practice as a licensed practical nurse, licensed vocational nurse, or other similarly qualified licensed nurse in any state participating in the compact.

(6) LICENSED PROFESSIONAL NURSE. A person who is currently licensed to practice professional nursing.

(7) MULTISTATE LICENSE. A license to practice as a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse issued by a home state licensing board that allows a licensed nurse to practice in any state authorized to grant multistate licensure privileges under the Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact.

(8) MULTISTATE LICENSURE PRIVILEGE. A legal authorization associated with a multistate license that allows the practice of nursing as a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse in any state participating in the Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact.

(9) PRACTICE OF PROFESSIONAL AND PRACTICAL NURSING. Nursing is a profession the practice of which is defined as:

a. Practice of Professional Nursing. The performance, for compensation, of any act in the care and counselling of persons or in the promotion and maintenance of health and prevention of illness and injury based upon the nursing process which includes systematic data gathering, assessment, appropriate nursing judgment and evaluation of human responses to actual or potential health problems through such services as case finding, health teaching, and health counselling; and provision of care supportive to or restorative of life and well-being, and executing medical regimens including administering medications and treatments prescribed by a licensed or otherwise legally authorized physician or dentist. A nursing regimen shall be consistent with and shall not vary any existing medical regimen. Additional acts requiring appropriate education and training designed to maintain access to a level of health care for the consumer may be performed under emergency or other conditions which are recognized by the nursing and medical professions as proper to be performed by a registered nurse.

b. Practice of Practical Nursing. The performance, for compensation, of acts designed to promote and maintain health, prevent illness and injury, and provide care utilizing standardized procedures and the nursing process, including administering medications and treatments, under the direction of a licensed professional nurse or a licensed or otherwise legally authorized physician or dentist. Such practice requires basic knowledge of the biological, physical, and behavioral sciences and of nursing skills but does not require the substantial specialized skill, independent judgment, and knowledge required in the practice of professional nursing. Additional acts requiring appropriate education and training may be performed under emergency or other conditions which are recognized by the nursing and medical professions as proper to be performed by a licensed practical nurse.

(10) SINGLE STATE LICENSE. A nurse license issued by a state participating in the Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact that authorizes practice only within the issuing state and does not include a multistate licensure privilege to practice in any other state.

(Acts 1965, No. 867, p. 1615, §2; Acts 1975, No. 427, p. 1024, §1; Acts 1983, No. 83-642, p. 989, §1; Act 2019-102, §1.)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases, 1983–2015 · leading case: Stamps v. Jefferson Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 642 So. 2d 941 (Ala. 1994).
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Stamps v. Jefferson Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 642 So. 2d 941 (Ala. 1994). · cites it 8× “Burkett Center for the Multi-Handicapped, appeal from a judgment declaring that they, the Jefferson County Board of Education, and several of its officials are not violating the Nursing Practices Act, Ala.Code 1975, §§ 34-21-1 to -63 ("the NPA"), in performing certain procedures…”
Ex Parte State Ex Rel. James, 711 So. 2d 952 (Ala. 1998). · cites it 4× “The trial court entered a declaratory judgment in favor of the Board, and the teachers appealed.”
King v. Corr. Med. Servs., Inc., 919 So. 2d 1186 (Ala. Civ. App. 2005). · cites it 3× “In making its decision to affirm the trial court's decision allowing the nurse witnesses to testify, the Dowdy court quoted from the definition of the "practice of professional nursing" contained in Ala.Code 1975, § 34-21-1(3)(a). Dowdy, 612 So.”
Sermchief v. Gonzales, 660 S.W.2d 683 (Mo. 1983). “Ala.Code § 34-21-1(3) (1975); Alaska Stat.”
Dowdy v. Lewis, 612 So. 2d 1149 (Ala. 1992). · cites it 2× “) Although § 6-5-548 does not explain what is meant by "practice of nursing," Ala.Code 1975, § 34-21-1(3)(a), defines "practice of professional nursing," in part, as follows: "The performance, for compensation, of any act in the care and counselling of persons or in the…”
Ruby J. v. Jefferson Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 122 F. Supp. 3d 1288 (N.D. Ala. 2015). · cites it 4× “Ala. Code § 34-21-1 (3). Family members are exempt from the regulations and licensure requirements governing the profession only to the extent they administer medications and treatments “gratuitously.”
State ex rel. James v. ACLU of Alabama, 711 So. 2d 952 (Ala. 1998). · cites it 4× “Stamps involved an action "brought by special education teachers against their employers seeking a judgment construing [the Nursing Practices Act, Ala.Code 1975, §§ 34-21-1 to -63,] and declaring that their duties subjected] them to prosecution by the board of nursing for the…”
B.W.T. v. Haynes & Haynes, P.C., 20 So. 3d 815 (Ala. Civ. App. 2009). “In Stamps , a group of special-education teachers alleged that they were regularly required, as part of their jobs, to perform procedures that the Nursing Practices Act, §§ 34-21-1 to -63, Ala.Code 1975 (“the NPA”), restricts to licensed nurses, including, among other things,…”
Bunke v. Alabama Bd. of Nursing State of Ala., 871 F. Supp. 1437 (M.D. Ala. 1994). “§ 34-21-1, et seq., Code of Alabama. Ms. Bunke was officially charged by the Board with unprofessional conduct on May 22,1994.”
Boyles ex rel. Boyles v. Dougherty, 143 So. 3d 682 (Ala. 2013). “’ “ § 34-21-1 (3)a[, Ala.Code 1975]. “The legislature has not authorized a registered nurse to make a medical diagnosis.”
— Ala. Code § 34-21-1(3) — 2 cases
Stamps v. Jefferson Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 642 So. 2d 941 (Ala. 1994). “Burkett Center for the Multi-Handicapped, appeal from a judgment declaring that they, the Jefferson County Board of Education, and several of its officials are not violating the Nursing Practices Act, Ala.Code 1975, §§ 34-21-1 to -63 ("the NPA"), in performing certain procedures…”
Sermchief v. Gonzales, 660 S.W.2d 683 (Mo. 1983). “Ala.Code § 34-21-1(3) (1975); Alaska Stat.”
— Ala. Code § 34-21-1(3)(a) — 2 cases
King v. Corr. Med. Servs., Inc., 919 So. 2d 1186 (Ala. Civ. App. 2005). “In making its decision to affirm the trial court's decision allowing the nurse witnesses to testify, the Dowdy court quoted from the definition of the "practice of professional nursing" contained in Ala.Code 1975, § 34-21-1(3)(a). Dowdy, 612 So.”
Dowdy v. Lewis, 612 So. 2d 1149 (Ala. 1992). “) Although § 6-5-548 does not explain what is meant by "practice of nursing," Ala.Code 1975, § 34-21-1(3)(a), defines "practice of professional nursing," in part, as follows: "The performance, for compensation, of any act in the care and counselling of persons or in the…”
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