Today was the Coalition for Nurses in Advance Practice (CNAP) 2015 Legislative Day here in Austin, Texas. Although my feet are killing me (this coming from a nurse), I feel invigorated and empowered. It was an honor to stand (see what I did there?) with advance practice nurses from all across the state to advocate for legislative changes that will directly result in increased access to care for Texas residents. Three cheers for grassroots advocacy!
In a nutshell, CNAP presented the following five legislative priorities to legislators and their staff:
-Improve access to care by ensuring that APRNs have the ability to contract directly with insurance providers and serve as primary care providers whether the delegating physician is in network or a contracted provider.
-Authorize physicians to delegate prescribing of Schedule II medications to psychiatric APRNs and APRNs providing palliative care. Address prescribing of hydrocodone combination products. Clarify ability of physicians to delegate to APRNs needing to prescribe Schedule II drugs for patients being discharged from a hospital.
(These first two bullet points are in bold as they are the Coalition's highest priorities for this session. Go big or go home.)
-Synchronize issuance of an APRN's license with the issuance of the Controlled Substances Registration (CSR) allowing the CSR to be issued every two years rather than annually.
-Support increased funding for APRN educational programs and faculty.
-Authorize APRNs to sign Death Certificates.
I encourage you to contact your representative and advocate for the above objectives. Contact Greg Abbott. Start a blog. Hire a sky writer. Do whatever it takes to make your voice, which is a direct extension of your patients', heard.
Helpful Links:
CNAP website:
Check the status of any bill:
Premier Legislative Consulting:
This is not a sponsored post.
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