Senate panel endorses full practice for nurse practitioners
The state Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee approved a bill today that would remove state barriers that prevent advanced practice registered nurses from offering a wider variety of services to patients.
Senate Bill 25, sponsored by state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll Township, would modernize the professional nursing law to permit qualified APRNs to practice in their field of specialty independent of a physician after they fulfill a three-year, 3,600-hour collaboration agreement with a doctor.
“Many rural communities are suffering from a severe shortage of doctors, and the expansion of Medicaid has created an even larger patient population for a dwindling number of physicians,” Bartolotta said. Nearly 35 percent of Pennsylvanians live in an area or population group that has inadequate primary care access.
Twenty-two states and Washington, D.C. have already adopted full practice authority for APRNs. The Senate approved legislation similar to Bartolotta’s during the 2015-16 Legislative Session.