Oklahoma’s guidance for the registered nurse in moderate sedation is a Board of Nursing guideline, OBN Policy/Guideline #P-06, revised eight times since 1999, most recently 3/28/23 (p. 1). It “addresses administration, management, and/or monitoring moderate sedation of patients for short term therapeutic, diagnostic or surgical procedures” (p. 1), and says the registered nurse “shall evidence competency” (p. 2). Everything below is quoted or paraphrased from the Board’s five-page PDF, with page numbers.
Oklahoma at a glance
| Board | Oklahoma Board of Nursing |
| Document | OBN Policy/Guideline #P-06, “Moderate (Conscious) Sedation Guidelines for Registered Nurse Managing and Monitoring Patients” (p. 1) — Oklahoma Board of Nursing PDF, five pages, Board Revised 3/28/23; page numbers on this page refer to that PDF. |
| Rule it applies | Itself a Board policy/guideline (p. 1). The one authority it cites, under “Regulatory Authority” (p. 3), is the statute “Title 59 O.S. §567.3a.2 and 3” (p. 3); no Board rule is cited by number. |
| Status | A Board-approved guideline. It calls itself “This guideline” (p. 1) and does not say whether it carries the force of law. Its wording is often mandatory all the same — the RN “shall evidence competency” (p. 2), and sedation “may not be started” (p. 3) until enough staff with demonstrated competency are available — while the seven qualifications are written in the plain present tense. |
| Dates | “Board Approved: 1/28/99” (p. 1), then eight revisions through 3/28/23. The “Board Reviewed w/o Revision:” (p. 1) field is blank. No effective date is stated. |
| Who it covers | The registered nurse who “is authorized by institutional policy to administer, manage and/or monitor moderate (conscious) sedation” (p. 2). One restriction reaches further — section IV.I is written for “A licensed nurse who is not a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist” (p. 3). |
| Who it does not cover | The guideline “does not apply to intubated patients on ventilators in a health care facility” (p. 1), and “These guidelines do not apply to deep sedation” (p. 1). Licensed practical nurses are the subject of a separate Board document, “Monitoring of the conscious sedation patient by licensed practical nurse guidelines” (p. 5), which this guideline lists but does not restate — though section IV.I, written for “a licensed nurse” (p. 3), still reaches them. |
| Settings the document names | No list of practice settings. The requirements attach to “every location where moderate (conscious) sedation is administered” (p. 3), room by room (p. 3). The only setting named as such is “a health care facility” (p. 1), in the ventilator exclusion. |
| Re-verification interval | Not stated. The RN “shall evidence competency” (p. 2), with no interval, renewal or re-demonstration cycle named. The timing words are about the procedure: sedation “may not be started” (p. 3) until an adequate number of staff with demonstrated competency is available. |
| Where the record lives | Not stated. The RN “is authorized by institutional policy” (p. 2), and three resources “must be available to the Registered Nurse” (p. 2), but the guideline does not say where evidence of a nurse’s competency is kept or who holds it. |
| CE hours | Not stated. No contact-hour count and no renewal-CE requirement. The nearest language is training beyond basic nursing preparation, and competency in airway management and resuscitation “such as ACLS or PALS” (p. 2) — neither with hours attached. |
What the Oklahoma Board of Nursing says
Section III, Qualifications, lists what “The Registered Nurse managing and monitoring the care of patients receiving moderate (conscious) sedation” (p. 2) does — seven items, in the Board’s words:
- “has training beyond basic nursing preparation in the administration of moderate (conscious) sedation” (p. 2);
- “demonstrates the acquired knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, cardiac arrhythmia recognition, medications and complications related to moderate (conscious) sedation” (p. 2);
- “assesses the total patient care requirements before and during the administration of moderate (conscious) sedation, and in the recovery phase” (p. 2);
- “understands the principles of oxygen delivery, transport and uptake, respiratory physiology, and the use of oxygen delivery services” (p. 2);
- “recognizes potential complications of moderate (conscious) sedation for each type of agent being administered” (p. 2);
- “has the ability to assess and intervene based upon orders or institutional protocols, in the event of complications and communicates patient status changes to the licensed provider” (p. 2);
- “demonstrates competency in airway management and resuscitation (such as ACLS or PALS) appropriate to the age of the patient” (p. 2).
The sentence just above that list:
“The Registered Nurse managing and monitoring moderate (conscious) sedation shall evidence competency in the management and monitoring of moderate (conscious) sedation.”
Oklahoma Board of Nursing — OBN Policy/Guideline #P-06 (Board Revised 3/28/23, p. 2)
Two lines the guideline draws
Drugs the manufacturer reserves for anesthesia-experienced hands
The guideline names no drug; the label draws the line. “A licensed nurse who is not a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist may not administer medications or assess the level of sedation for any and all drugs used in general anesthesia or moderate (conscious) sedation” (p. 3) if “the drug manufacturer’s general warning advises the drug should be administered and/or monitored by persons experienced in the use of general anesthesia” (p. 3) who are not involved in the conduct of the surgical and/or diagnostic procedure.
Undivided attention, and what has to be around it
The sedation nurse “shall have no other responsibilities during the procedure that would leave the patient unattended or compromise continuous monitoring” (p. 3). Around that nurse the guideline expects three things: “Qualified professionals who are experts in airway management, emergency intubation and advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation are present in the facility and remain in the facility until the patient is stable” (p. 3); sedation “may not be started until an adequate number of staff with demonstrated competency” (p. 3) in it is available; and “An emergency cart must be immediately accessible to every location where moderate (conscious) sedation is administered” (p. 3), with a positive pressure breathing device, oxygen, suction and appropriate airways in each room (p. 3).
What an Oklahoma facility should be able to show
Sections III and IV translate into three records:
- The institutional policy and the three facility resources — the policy authorizing the RN to administer, manage or monitor sedation (p. 2), plus the monitoring, drug-administration and emergency protocols, the venous-access policy (p. 2) and the documentation-frequency policy for physiologic measurements (p. 3).
- Per-nurse evidence of training beyond basic nursing preparation in moderate (conscious) sedation — the first qualification — and of the knowledge the second one names: anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, cardiac arrhythmia recognition, medications and complications (p. 2).
- Per-nurse evidence of demonstrated competency in managing and monitoring moderate (conscious) sedation — the assessment, oxygen, complication-recognition and intervention items, and airway and resuscitation competency appropriate to the age of the patient (p. 2) — kept current on an interval your own policy names; the guideline sets none.
The CSRN™ course — 10 CE contact hours developed and delivered by Capt. M. Ron Eslinger, CRNA, with module exams, case studies and a certificate ID your credentialing office can verify — is built to be records 2 and 3 on that list. Facility seats and roster tracking →
Questions Oklahoma facilities ask
Does Oklahoma set a renewal interval for sedation competency?
No. Guideline P-06 says the RN “shall evidence competency” (p. 2) and stops there — no interval, no renewal, no re-demonstration cycle and no continuing-education hours. The interval you write into your policy is your own; a certificate with an expiry date makes it visible on the roster.
Does Oklahoma require the CSRN™ course specifically?
No. Guideline P-06 requires no particular course, and no state mandates this specific one. What it asks for is training beyond basic nursing preparation, demonstrated knowledge and demonstrated competency (p. 2), without saying what document evidences any of them. CSRN™ is designed to serve as that evidence — a named credential, assessed competency and an employer-verifiable certificate ID.
Is ACLS or PALS required for the sedation nurse?
Not by name. The seventh qualification is that the RN “demonstrates competency in airway management and resuscitation (such as ACLS or PALS) appropriate to the age of the patient” (p. 2): ACLS and PALS are the guideline’s examples of how that competency is shown, and the age qualifier is its own. The experts it expects in the facility until the patient is stable (p. 3) are a condition of the setting, not an item on the sedation nurse’s own list.
Compliance note (last reviewed September 2026): This page is educational information about Oklahoma Board of Nursing Policy/Guideline #P-06, not legal advice or a compliance determination. Every quotation was checked word-for-word against the Board’s PDF (Board Revised 3/28/23) on 2026-09-01; page numbers refer to that five-page document. The Board has revised this guideline eight times since 1999; confirm the current revision and your own facility policy before relying on this summary. No state mandates this specific course.