A change has to be made to the Nurse Practitioner profession. There are huge issues with the current curriculum, and one of the biggest issues is the lack of regulation in the curriculum. How can my current university make me take 60+ credit hours where another school is only 39 credit hours for literally the same degree? These are two top tier universities that would normally compete with each other academically. It makes no sense.
I believe there should be a paid NP residency after NP school, just as it is for MD's. This could be a shorter focused residency based in primary care depending on your specialty. I think it being 1-2 years would be sufficient and give the on the job day-to-day training of a General Practitioner. This in and of itself would increase the respect of the profession. It should increase the overall pay to NPs and move NPs towards taking over the Primary care roll.
National Regulation of curriculum (adding advanced a & p would be smart)
Freedom to practice independently in all states (no supervision)
A residency after graduation for all np's (1-2 years)
These changes would take NP's to the next level of respect, pay, and autonomy.