New York Nurse Practitioners Gain Full Practice Authority

NPs can evaluate patients, diagnose, order, interpret diagnostic tests, prescribe medications and vaccines
NP listening to the lungs of a patient
DrGreenthamb from Pixabay
New York (Precision Vaccinations News)

The State of New York recently secured improved health care access for residents in the state. 

As of April 11, 2022, New York joins 24 other states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories adopting Full Practice Authority (FPA) legislation.

The FPA legislative empowers nurse practitioners (NPs) to provide the full scope of services they are educated and clinically trained to provide. 

Certain NPs can evaluate patients, diagnose, order, and interpret diagnostic tests, initiate and manage treatments, and prescribe medications, all under the exclusive licensure authority of the state board of nursing. 

The FPA includes offering vaccination services.

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) commends New York’s governor and the legislature to modernize nursing licensure law and position New York for a healthier future.

“New York has taken a critical step forward in our country, increasing access to vital health care services. New Yorkers will now have full and direct access to the comprehensive care NPs provide,” said April N. Kapu, DNP, APRN, ACNP- BC, FAANP, FCCM, FAAN, president of AANP, in a related press statement.

“Over the past two years, New York has waived unnecessary and outdated laws limiting healthcare access. These changes will help New York attract and retain nurse practitioners and provide New Yorkers better access to quality care," said Kapu.

Jon Fanning, MS, CAE, CNED, chief executive officer of AANP, added, “This is a no-cost, no-delay solution to strengthening health care for the nation.”

“Decades of research show that states with FPA are better positioned to improve access to care, grow their workforce, and address health care disparities while delivering quality health outcomes for patients.”

“We look forward to more states following suit.”

As of April 2022, more than 355,000 licensed NPs in the U.S. provide care in communities of all sizes across the nation. NPs deliver high-quality health care in more than 1 billion patient visits each year in the U.S. 

As a follow-up to the American Nurses Foundation's initial COVID Impact Assessment Survey, the Foundation conducted this second impact survey to determine changes and further impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurses.

About 12,000 nurses completed the survey between January 8 – and January 29, 2022. These nurses were asked whether their organization was experiencing a staffing shortage. Eighty-nine percent of nurses indicated staff shortages at their practices.

Click here to read the full Foundation report.

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners®  is the largest professional membership organization for NPs of all specialties.

Note: The AANP media statement was edited for clarity and manually curated for mobile readership.

PrecisionVaccinations publishes fact-checked research-based vaccination news.

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