Professional Nursing and State-Level Regulations NRSE 6050
Professional Nursing and State-Level Regulations NRSE 6050
Professional Nursing and State-Level Regulations NRSE 6050
Every State has different laws and regulations that impact APRNs practice, determined by individual state legislation and specific agency (Milstead & Short, 2019). The Nurse Practice Act (NPA) defines the regulation of nursing practice, which varies by State, and is governed by its state Board of Nursing (BON) to regulate the practice of nursing with the primary focus to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of its citizens.
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The American Nurses Association (ANA) represents all APRNs’ interest and believes that patients’ interests are best served by a health care system in which many different types of qualified professionals are available, accessible, and working together – collaboratively. Therefore, the scope of practice needs to reflect a professional’s true expertise (American Nurses Association, n.d.).
Starting July 2020, APRNs in Florida were able to practice independently, without a physician’s supervision, and to operate primary care practice in family medicine, general pediatrics, and general internal medicine. To qualify, the APRN needs to accumulate 3,000 hours of experience under physician supervision. APRNs have to complete minimum graduate-level course work in differential diagnosis and pharmacology and have not been subject to disciplinary action within the past five years (Florida Board of Nursing, n.d.).
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The passage of the bill demonstrates a commitment to the modernization of the way health care is delivered. APRNs can practice to the full extent of their education and abilities to provide the most efficient quality care to patients (American Nurses Association, n.d.). With this passage, people from Florida will have more access to health care, particularly in rural areas that are often underserved.
In contrast, although Texas recently eliminated the requirement of on-site physician supervision for Nurse Practitioners, they remained under restricted practice. State law requires a physician to provide continuous supervision, but the constant physical presence is not needed (Nurse Practitioner Schools, 2019). APRNs provide patient care by delegation from physicians.
A physician must delegate the prescriptive authority through a written document prescribed by law, and certain limitations apply to prescribing Controlled Substances (CSs), as schedules III-V. Schedule II may also be delegated depending on the patient’s pressing needs (Coalition for Nurses in Advanced Practice, n.d.). Supervising physicians are mandated to track prescriptions written by APRNs, perform chart reviews, and meet monthly.
To continue practicing as an APRN in Florida and Texas, one must maintain the State required continuing education courses and an additional three contact hours related to prescribing controlled substances. Texas requires practicing a minimum of 400 hours in their role and population focus area and shall attest to completing additional five contact hours in pharmacotherapeutics (“Texas Board of Nursing – Nurses,” n.d.). To continue practicing as an APRN in Texas, they should maintain and renew their RN and APRN licensed at the same time.
Florida and Texas are just one example of different States with different regulations. Every State has specific laws. An APRN needs to understand the rules for the State that they are interested in practicing in. One must always ensure that you are practicing within your scope to protect the patients you are caring for and safeguard your license that you worked so hard to obtain.
Professional Nursing and State-Level Regulations NRSE 6050 References
- American Nurses Association. (n.d.). Scope of practice. ANA. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/scope-of-practice/
- Coalition for Nurses in Advanced Practice. (n.d.). Waiting for the redirection… Waiting for the redirection… https://cnaptexas.com/aprn-practice/prescribing/prescribing-in-texas/
- Florida Board of Nursing. (n.d.). HB 607 passes legislature – Impact to RNs, CNAs, and APRNs. Florida Board of Nursing – Licensing, Renewals & Information. https://floridasnursing.gov/hb-607-passes-legislature/
- Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health Policy and Politics A Nurse’s Guide (6th ed.). Jones and Bartlett Learning.
- Nurse Practitioner Schools. (2019, November 15). Texas nurse practitioner practice authority: The fight for FPA. NursePractitionerSchools.com. https://www.nursepractitionerschools.com/blog/texas-np-practice-authority/
- Texas Board of Nursing – Nurses. (n.d.). Welcome to the Texas Board of Nursing Website. https://www.bon.texas.gov/newaprn.asp
It can be a valuable exercise to compare regulations among various state/regional boards of nursing. Doing so can help share insights that could be useful should there be future changes in a state/region. In addition, nurses may find the need to be licensed in multiple states or regions.
Boards of Nursing (BONs) exist in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands. Similar entities may also exist for different regions. The mission of BONs is the protection of the public through the regulation of nursing practice. BONs put into practice state/region regulations for nurses that, among other things, lay out the requirements for licensure and define the scope of nursing practice in that state/region.
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RE: Discussion – Week 9
To Prepare:
- Review the Resources and reflect on the mission of state/regional boards of nursing as the protection of the public through the regulation of nursing practice.
- Consider how key regulations may impact nursing practice.
- Review key regulations for nursing practice of your state’s/region’s board of nursing and those of at least one other state/region and select at least two APRN regulations to focus on for this Discussion.
For California, which is the state I currently reside in, NPs have restricted practice. According to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (2022), there are three practice environments for NPs: full practice, reduce practice, and restricted practice. There are currently 11 states including California who are restricted practice.
Restricted practice means that during the NPs career they must be supervised by a physician to be able to practice and the physicians must agree with the NPs assessment and approve the care plan and prescriptions associated with that assessment (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2022).
Recently, the California governor signed AB 890 which provides two different routes an NP can take to independently practice. One route taken effect since January 2021 allows NPs to continue to practice in any healthcare facility as long as there is one or two physicians employed there but does not have to be directly supervised while the other NP route which will take effect in January 2023 allows NPs to practice independently and open their own clinic, but they would have to be in good standing and have practiced three plus years (Montague, 2020). Even with this information, the AANP still shows California as being a restricted practice state maybe the official change won’t occur until 2023.
For Minnesota, where Walden University is located, NPs have full practice. This means that NPs can diagnose, prescribe medications including controlled substances, order and interpret diagnostic tests, and initiate and manage treatments based on the licensure of the state board of nursing (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2020).
However, new NPs must work 2,080 hours under what Minnesota calls a collaborative management in which the NP must work collaboratively with a physician (Minnesota Board of Nursing, 2022).
To my understanding since the California governor signed the AB 890, this allows NPs in California to practice to their full scope independently just like a full practice state so APRNs in both California and Minnesota can practice fully if they are in good standing with the board and continue to meet the requirements to keep their license.
Professional Nursing and State-Level Regulations NRSE 6050 References
- American Association of Nurse Practitioners. (2022). State practice environment. https://www.aanp.org/advocacy/state/state-practice-environment
- Minnesota Board of Nursing. (2022). Advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) licensed general information. https://mn.gov/boards/nursing/advanced-practice/advanced-practice-registered-nurse-(aprn)-licensure-general-information/
- Montague, A. (2020, December 15). Expanding scope of practice for nurse practitioners in California: AB 890 compromises to permit independent practice. The Source on HealthCare Price and Competition. https://sourceonhealthcare.org/expanding-scope-of-practice-for-nurse-practitioners-in-california-ab-890-compromises-to-permit-independent-practice/
By Day 3 of Week 5
Post a comparison of at least two APRN board of nursing regulations in your state/region with those of at least one other state/region. Describe how they may differ. Be specific and provide examples. Then, explain how the regulations you selected may apply to Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) who have legal authority to practice within the full scope of their education and experience. Provide at least one example of how APRNs may adhere to the two regulations you selected.
READINGS
1 Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
- Chapter 4, “Government Response: Regulation” (pp. 57–84)
2 http://www.nursingworld.org/
3Bosse, J., Simmonds, K., Hanson, C., Pulcini, J., Dunphy, L., Vanhook, P., & Poghosyan, L. (2017). Position statement: Full practice authority for advanced practice registered nurses is necessary to transform primary care. Nursing Outlook, 65(6), 761–765. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2017.10.002
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
5 https://www.ncsbn.org/index.htm
6 Neff, D. F., Yoon, S. H., Steiner, R. L., Bumbach, M. D., Everhart, D., & Harman J. S. (2018). The impact of nurse practitioner regulations on population access to care. Nursing Outlook, 66(4), 379–385. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2018.03.001
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
7 Peterson, C., Adams, S. A., & DeMuro, P. R. (2015). mHealth: Don’t forget all the stakeholders in the business case. Medicine 2.0, 4(2), e4. doi:10.2196/med20.4349
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
Also Read:
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NURS 6050 Discussion: Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
NURS 6050 Assignment: Legislation Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement
Professional Nursing and State-Level Regulations NRSE 6050 SAMPLE
Different states tend to have unique regulations for the Advance Practice Registered Nurse but all aims at securing the interest of the public health safety by regulating the activities of the health care professionals (Milstead, 2019). The board of nursing of a state acts on the power derived from the Nurse Practice Act passage that allows them to set and regulate standard for safe nursing practice within its jurisdiction for nurses that have the qualification and for advanced practice including licensure requirements and license renewal as well as any necessary disciplinary actions (Milstead, 2019).
Comparing the State of Georgia, my home state APRN board of nursing regulation to that of the State of Nebraska; the first thing I noticed is that Georgia state regulatory body is the board of nursing while that of Nebraska is the Department of Health and Human Services. The credentialing criteria are similar, but there are some differences in the scope of practice.
Georgia state practice regulation has a restrictive tendency; the practice authority allows limited actions for APRN practice requiring supervision by health care provider throughout the APRN’s practice or team management before an APRN such as an NP can provide care to patients (American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), 2018).
In the state of Georgia, the practice authority requires a written protocol between the NP and the overseeing physician which specifies medical acts delegated by the physician and demands an instant session with the physician (Scope of Practice Policy, 2019). No wonder at my practice setting an NP is not allowed to initiate care nor partake in a patient discharge process.
On the other hand, Nebraska state and licensure law permit all NPs to exercise autonomy in practice such that they can assess patients, diagnose, order diagnostic tests, initiate and manage treatments, prescribe all medications including control substances without a provider’s supervision after fulfilling the criteria for doing so (Nebraska legislature, n.d).
Allowing APRNs to have full practice access will enable an increase in experience and expand the talents inherent in the nurse practitioners and encourage significant innovations in the nursing profession; also motivates other NPs to spring up in filling the gap created by the shortage of providers in America.
In Georgia, an NP can only prescribe a schedule III to V control substance if operating under the prescriptive authority of a supervising physician by submitting a written protocol to the supervising physician and permission is granted (American Medical Association (AMA), 2017). While in Nebraska, an NP may prescribe both legend drug and Schedules II-V controlled substances after the NP has put in first 2000 hours of practice under the supervision of a physician as well as completing 30 hours of education in pharmacotherapeutics and the board does not track the number of the NPs with DEA numbers (AMA, 2017).
Both states require that providers should register in the prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) for Benzodiazepines and opiates but the difference is that APRN in Georgia is practicing under the prescriptive authority of a physician and are not able to delegate access to PDMP unless a nurse who has prescriptive authority (Georgia Department of Public Health, 2018). While in Nebraska, APRN has prescriptive authority; thus, can delegate access to PDMP (Borcher, 2016).
It would be to the perfect interest of patients and the society as a whole for all the APRN in America to have equal full legal authority in all the states as in Nebraska to enable them to practice within the full scope of the education and experience they have earned through rigorous academic and clinical training.
According to Doyle et al., (2017), NPs have all it takes to practice to the full scope of education gained; this prompted the IOM to call on states with unjustifiably restrictive regulations on the NPs like Georgia state to amend the law that will authorize NPs to prac