Aligning nurse practitioner statutes in California
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Chan, Garret K., author Duderstadt, Karen G., author Dower, Catherine, author
- Contributor(s):
- California HealthCare Foundation, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Oakland, CA] : California Health Care Foundation, July 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Nurse Practitioners -- legislation & jurisprudence California United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- California legislation (Assembly Bill 890, or AB 890) enacted in September 2020 authorizes certain nurse practitioners to practice without physician supervision and standardized procedures. Implementation of this statute holds significant promise to expand access to high-quality care, particularly for underserved places and populations. The Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) is tasked with appointing a Nurse Practitioner Advisory Committee, reviewing current nursing regulations, and promulgating regulations and guidelines to implement AB 890. To meet the access to care needs in California, it is essential that the BRN complete this work with expediency since nurse practitioners cannot practice without physician supervision before the BRN work is completed. To realize the intent of AB 890 and provide maximum benefit to Californians, action is also required to align existing, related statutes, including provisions of California’s Education, Health and Safety, and Labor Codes. This report offers an analysis of existing statutes that, without review and action, may inhibit full realization of the promise of AB 890. This report examines existing statutes and regulations that could be updated to align with AB 890. The report uses three priority policy issues — increasing access to care, especially in underserved communities of color; managing the opioid crisis; and caring for vulnerable older adults — to illustrate how statutory and regulatory alignment could enhance the state’s capacity to meet community health care needs. Solutions to these policy issues are multifactorial. However, research points to expanded NP practice as one meaningful solution. States that removed physician supervision of NPs experienced a growth in the number of routine checkups, increased access for rural and vulnerable populations, decreases in emergency department use, and reductions in health care costs.4 Evidence indicates that NP services ensure quality of care for chronic illnesses and improvement in functional status for patients in long-term care facilities. Also, access to treatment for opioid use disorder increased in states where there was no physician oversight of NPs compared with states that required NP supervision.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (16 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918366983106676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918366983106676