It is within the scope of an appropriately prepared and competent registered nurse to follow standing orders to provide birth control or to screen for and treat sexually transmitted diseases. The Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission’s Standing Orders and Verbal Orders Advisory Opinion provides additional guidance and recommendations in using standing orders. The Public Health Nurses: Dispensing Medications/Devices for Prophylactic and Therapeutic Treatment of Communicable Diseases and Reproductive Health Advisory Opinion provides guidelines and recommendations. While this is specific to public health nurses, the general concepts apply to any setting. The registered nurse should use the Scope of Practice Decision Tree to determine if these activities are within the nurse’s legal and individual scope of practice.