People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. – Maya Angelou
This page is to help nurses navigate the specific areas of Safe Harbor, TPAPN, BON (Texas), Peer Review and Scope of Practice/Nurse Practice Act.
Safe Harbor
Safe Harbor is a nursing peer review process that a nurse may initiate when asked to engage in an assignment or conduct that the nurse believes in good faith would potentially result in a violation of the Nursing Practice Act (NPA) or Texas Board of Nursing (TBON) rules or be a violation of the nurse’s duty to a patient.
Texas Board of Nursing (TBON)
The mission of the Texas Board of Nursing is to protect and promote the welfare of the people of Texas by ensuring that each person holding a license as a nurse in the State of Texas is competent to practice safely.
Scope of Practice/Nurse Practice Act
Safe, competent nursing practice is grounded in the law as written in the state nurse practice act (NPA) and the states rules/regulations. Together the NPA and rules/regulations guide and govern nursing practice. The scope of practice is the services that a qualified health professional is deemed competent to perform.
Texas Peer Assistance Program for Nurses (TPAPN)
TPAPN safeguards patients by providing early identification, support, monitoring, accountability and advocacy to Texas nurses who have an identified substance use or mental health condition, so that nurses may practice nursing safely.
Peer Review
Nursing peer review is a systematic process of assessing and evaluating nursing care by peers against professional practice standards. The purpose of an peer review program is to provide a pathway whereby peers hold one another accountable for practice.
SOS Information about Nursing 