ANPB - Response to Dr R. Raspa

The 45 year history of well-documented safety and quality of Nurse Practitioner (NP) practice demonstrates the effectiveness of the NP educational model. While the educational pathway and models of NP and physicians differ, the outcomes of NPs and physician are similar.

 

Certified quified NPs are required a minimum of six years of University setting. As the complexity of healthcare continues to increase, NP academic programs  have continued to evolve to ensure that graduates are prepared for this increase in level of technology, knowledge, and skills.  This includes didactic and practice hours. Nurse Practitioners and medical students are trained in the same University class settings. More over,NP have a proven life-long Learners with the Doctorate Degree in Nursing the entry level for NP practice. 

 

Funding by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF was released in 2011 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The report included summaries of hundreds of articles contributing to the body of knowledge that consistently demonstrates that NPs provide high quality care , cost effective care with outcomes equivalent to those physicians in the same area. The report recommended clearly that regulatory and policy restrictions preserving scope -of-practice barriers be removed to allow NPs to practitioner to the highest level of their education and preparation. The concept put forth that NPs are "trained" not "educated", demonstrates a significant lack of "RESEARCH"and subject "KNOWLEDGE"that is "MISLEADING" to consumers. by NPs. The National Governors Association (NGA) under- took a review of the literature and state rules governing NPs’ scope of practice to answer three questions pertaining to their potential role in meeting the in- creasing demand for primary care: (1) to what extent do scope of practice rules for NPs, as well as licen- sure and other conditional requirements, vary across states?; (2) to what extent do states’ rules and require- ments for NPs deviate from evidence-based research of appropriate activities for NPs?; and (3) given cur- rent evidence, what would be the effect of changes to state scope of practice laws and regulations on health care access and quality?(national Governors Association-2013 NGA-paper).

 

Most studies showed that NP-provided care is comparable to physician-provided care on several process and outcome measures. Moreover, the 

Studies suggest that NPs may provide improved access to care.The NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION conclusion: "None of the studies in NGA’s literature review raise concerns about the quality of care offeredby NPs. Most studies showed that NP-provided care is comparable to physician-provided care on several process and outcome measures. Moreover, the stud- ies suggest that NPs may provide improved access to care"(NGA). It is critical patients understand , it's not for us , it' for our patients. Medical providers must "play in the same sandbox", because the only person whom is harmed is the patient. Thank you, Gail Sadler MSN-ARNP-BC,FAANP, a PROUD NP. President of the Association of Nurse Practitioners in Business.