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A Changing Landscape: The Need to Remove Legislative Barriers on Nurse Practitioners
Opinion Article: A Changing Landscape: The Need to Remove Legislative Barriers on Nurse Practitioners Cynthia S. Miller, BSN, RN
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The shortage of providers in the healthcare field is having many adverse effects on patients. Allowing nurse practitioners to practice at their full scope will help to alleviate this burden and allow for the delivery of high-quality care to patients. Restrictions such as the requirement for a physician to certify the need for home health services puts unnecessary restrictions on nurse practitioners and an unneeded paperwork burden on physicians. Nurse practitioners are highly trained and capable of completing the assessment requirements needed for determining the need for home health services. The Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2019 that is currently in the New York Senate hopes to remove the physician’s requirement and allow nurse practitioners to certify the need for home healthcare.
The changing landscape of healthcare in the United States warrants expansion of nurse practitioners (NPs) legal freedoms to perform their job to the fullest extent of their education and training. Our nation is at a point in healthcare where more primary care providers are needed to meet the ever-expanding needs of the population. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (2018) the United States could be facing a shortage of up to 120,000 physicians by 2030 (Owens, 2019). Nurse practitioners provide a viable and high-quality solution to meet the need for more providers, especially in the primary care arena. Nevertheless, there are many legislative barriers that need to be overcome before NPs can fully fill the void.
It is essential for nurse practitioners to take a stance against legislative barriers to full scope of practice, and work toward changing regulations. Changes to legislation directly effect how NPs can carry out their duties and these changes need to be originated by motivated NPs, not physicians. Nurse practitioners need to spearhead legislative changes so that the profession can be guided and moved toward a direction of transition and evolution. Using NPs to the full extent of their education and training would alleviate some of the pressure currently on the healthcare system, as well as promote improvement of some of the health indicators established by Healthy People 2020.
Cynthia S. Miller, BSN, RN, is currently attending D’Youville College. She is a Registered Professional Nurse who works at Erie County Medical Center in Behavioral Health. 40
Journal of the New York State Nurses Association, Volume 46, Number 2
