Nursing Leadership Health Policy: Policy to remove scope-of-practice barriers to Nurse Practitioners

Nursing Leadership Health Policy: Policy to remove scope-of-practice barriers to Nurse Practitioners
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Nursing Leadership Health Policy: Policy to remove scope-of-practice barriers to Nurse Practitioners (NP)
It is very important for nurses to be engaged in political involvement. Nursing practice is legislated on every level and requires nurses’ input and attention. In this paper, a health policy change is proposed at the federal level. The plan for the execution of the policy development is included and how lobbying would be done is described. Lastly, the paper discusses who the champion for proposed bill would be from my state advocates.
Remove scope-of-practice barriers to nurse practitioners
Scope-of-practice laws in states across America determine the scope of services that Nurse Practitioners may offer and the degree to which Nurse Practitioners may practice independently. Such regulations differ by state and they govern the role of Nurse Practitioners by spelling out the level of needed physician oversight (Iglehart, 2013). Quite a few states in the country have allowed Nurse Practitioners to practice independently without physician oversight whereas other states limit the authority of Nurse Practitioners to diagnose diseases, treat diseases, and prescribe appropriate medicines to patients and clients without supervision. At the moment, twenty-two states allow Nurse Practitioners to practice autonomously, whereas other states necessitate some degree of oversight by physicians (Hain & Fleck, 2014). An estimated â…” of states that have a shortage of primary care doctors also have scope-of-practice laws that are restrictive, which might serve as an impediment to increasing access to primary care services through Nurse Practitioners (Iglehart, 2013). Payer policies influence indirectly the services that Nurse Practitioners provide. In essence, such policies comprise whether Nurse Practitioners are acknowledged as primary care providers and included in provider networks and whether or not Nurse Practitioners may bill and be paid directly.
Restrictive scope-of-practice laws in states together with strict payer policies serve to restrict Nurse Practitioners to working as staff members in hospitals, physician practices, and other healthcare organizations instead of working within their own independent practices (Hain & Fleck, 2014). Since Nurse Practitioners acquire the essential qualifications as well as skills to act in the same way as a Primary Care Provider, and since they command lower pays and could be trained much faster at a reduced cost compared to doctors, getting rid of the obstacles which limit the scope-of-practice of Nurse Practitioners can address the increasing concerns with regard to access to primary care services. On the whole, getting rid of the obstacles to practice best serves patients in hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the United States at a time when primary care is really needed (Iglehart, 2013). Specifically, the wording for the proposed law/bill is as follows:
Advanced Practiced Nurse Practitioners permitted to practice independently without physician oversight and can practice to the entire degree of...