News: Nursing groups strongly oppose AMA’s policy change to regulate advanced practice RNs

After the American Medical Association’s (AMA) recent policy amendment, which calls for advanced practice RNs (APRN) to be licensed and regulated jointly by the state medical and nursing boards, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) released a statement in strong opposition to the recommendation. In a statement, they pointed out that the United States nursing regulatory bodies (NRB) have regulated the practice of nursing for more than 100 years, and adding state medical boards into the mix could negatively affect care, HealthLeaders reported.

“[NRBs] have the unique experience and expertise to license, regulate, and discipline nurses at all levels of practice from licensed practical/vocational nurses, to registered nurses to APRNs,” the NCSBN stated. “The Consensus Model for APRN Regulation, the nationally recognized and longstanding model for APRN regulation, calls for regulation of APRNs by NRBs.”

“In the interest of public safety and protection, best practice dictates that regulation of APRNs should be within the purview of NRBs,” said Maryann Alexander, PhD, RN, FAAN, chief officer of nursing regulation for the NCSBN. "Adding the needless oversight of state medical boards does nothing to enhance patient protection but has the potential to add unnecessary bureaucracy that may actually slow down the regulatory process and impede access to care.”

Other nursing groups have also spoken out:

“At a time when the healthcare industry is facing a critical workforce shortage and patients' access to care is in jeopardy, the AMA has chosen to focus on ‘fixing' a problem that does not exist,” said Angela Mund, DNP, CRMA, president of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology.

“The AMA has once again dusted off its old protectionist playbook and demonstrated its commitment to put profit and powerplays ahead of patients and their access to high-quality healthcare,” said the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).

Jon Fanning, MS, CAE, CNED, the CEO of AANP, added, “The only appropriate regulatory entities to oversee nursing licensure and practice are state boards of nursing. Not only is the model proposed by the AMA flawed, but it has also been soundly rejected by 46 states and the District of Columbia. In the handful of states where NP practice is regulated outside the exclusive oversight of the board of nursing, the restrictive involvement of the board of medicine directly contributes to healthcare access challenges, resulting in continued low health care rankings, geographic disparities in care, and unnecessary regulatory cost in these states.”

Editor’s note: To read HealthLeaders’ coverage of this story, click here.