SUPPORT LEGISLATION TO REMOVE RESTRICTIONS ON THE PRACTICE OF ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSES

WHEREAS, the current primary and specialty healthcare needs of all Americans already exceeds the supply of autonomous providers; and

WHEREAS, these needs will be significantly increased with or without the implementation of the Affordable Care Act; and

WHEREAS, advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) are skilled professionals who are educationally and clinically prepared to meet these healthcare needs, and they can most effectively increase consumer's access to healthcare when they are allowed to practice to the full scope of their professional capacity; and

WHEREAS, APRNs have been providing safe, cost-effective, high-quality care to Americans for the past four decades and more; and

WHEREAS, these restrictions have led to the denial of payment for APRN services by private and public payers, forcing APRN patients to find other providers; and

WHEREAS, the RAND Corp. has found that "in the ten-year period between 1999 and 2009, the U.S. health care spending nearly doubled, climbing from $1.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion," and the Office of Technology Assessment reported that the nurse practitioner cost per care episode was at least 20 percent less than traditional medical provider cost with the same population; and

WHEREAS, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing recommends that APRNs be licensed and regulated with no requirements for collaboration, direction or supervision; and

WHEREAS, the Institute of Medicine's report The Future of Nursing states that nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training; and

WHEREAS, 17 states and the District of Columbia have increased access to APRN care by eliminating statutory barriers imposed by requirements for supervision, collaboration and direction; and

WHEREAS, consistent with the National Council of State Boards of Nursing APRN Consensus Model, APRN is the appropriate title for advanced practice registered nurses, nationally; and

WHEREAS, statutory and regulatory prohibitions on practicing to the full extent of APRN licensure and education impedes full access to APRN care and generates hardships for healthcare consumers:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers will support legislative and regulatory action at the state and federal level to remove all statutory and regulatory restrictions that prevent APRNs from practicing to the full extent of their licensure and education.