States with full practice licenses provide access to nurses

April Kapu, DNP Fueled by the growing demand for primary care and the increasing variety of patients across the country living in areas where there’s a shortage of primary care providers, an increasing number of states are rightly considering laws to offer patients with greater access to excellent care provided by NPs.

Each yr, 355,000 licensed NPs see patients in primary, acute, specialty and long-term care settings across all healthcare settings. In fact, 82% American adults have been treated or know someone who has been treated by a NP.

Many patients select nurse practitioners because they create a comprehensive perspective to healthcare, which ensures excellent patient outcomes. NPs are the fastest growing group of primary care providers, providing comprehensive, person-centered care to tens of millions of individuals of all ages and backgrounds in communities all over the world. NPs practice in almost every health care setting, including clinics, hospitals and emergency rooms, urgent care centers, private offices, expert nursing facilities, and Veterans Health Administration and Indian Health Service facilities. Full practice privileges provide NPs with the licensing authority to practice in accordance with their education and training, to judge patients, diagnose, order and interpret diagnostic tests, and initiate and manage treatment under the exclusive licensing authority of the state board of nursing.

This regulatory framework eliminates outdated requirements for a career to enter right into a state-mandated contract with a physician as a condition of obtaining state licensure and providing patient care.

Decades within the making

Since the creation of the NP career within the mid-Sixties, NPs have advocated for the chance to practice in the complete scope of our education and clinical training. Inconsistency in laws regulating NPs began within the Nineteen Seventies when states began regulating NPs outside of their registered nursing license. Now 26 states have worked to offer some uniformity in NP licensing, it is time for the remaining 24 to follow suit. The FPA is a critical achievement for these countries. Being fully licensed to practice improves access to care, especially in underserved areas; improves care and its delivery; reduces costs by eliminating duplication of services and billing costs related to outdated physician supervision; and protects patient alternative. The effects of the entry into force of the FPA speak for themselves. Research shows that states with Full Practice Authority laws are amongst those with one of the best access to care within the country. In fact, in George Mason University’s “Health Care Openness and Access Project 2020: Full Release” research articleThe 19 highest access states are states with full practice license laws. Unfortunately, within the remaining 24 states, outdated licensing laws restrict or limit patient access to the services we offer, which implies these states usually tend to rank near the underside for access and quality. For example, nine of the ten lowest-ranked states in overall health haven’t yet awarded a partnership agreement with national partners. With somewhat little bit of 95 million patients living in federally designated health care deserts, it’s critical that policymakers find solutions like FPA to make sure Americans have access to high-quality health care. America’s national programs provide a significant solution to the health care equity and access issues that threaten the health of our nation. The ADJUST strongly encourages the continuation of the trend towards countries adopting partnership agreements on partnership agreements and the overwhelming majority consumers of health products agree. Research shows that an awesome proportion of patients support policies and laws that remove barriers to NP practice and increase patient selections of their health care providers. Nation states are leading this effort, working to offer patients with the high-quality health care they expect and America deserves. We provide patient-centered, accessible health care that ought to be available to all. When patients select, patients win.