AMA House of Delegates Considers Limits on on Nursing Education and Practice

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

from pa nurses assoc eupdate:

ama house of delegates considers limits on nursing education and practice

posted: 06/13/08

attention pennsylvania nurses:

the american medical association (ama) house of delegates plans to consider resolutions at its june 14-18 meeting, to place limits on nursing education and practice. resolution 214, "doctor of nursing practice," would require physician supervision for dnps. resolution 303, "protection of the titles 'doctor,' 'resident' and 'residency,'" would limit the use of these terms to physicians, dentists and podiatrists. while these resolutions are policy statements, they set the agenda for state medical associations as well as the ama itself, to advocate for state and federal action. please click on the links below to view the ama resolutions and psna/ana’s responses to them:

• 
  
• ama resolution 303
  
• ama resolution 214
  
• psna response letter
  
• ana response to ama resolution 303
  
• ana response to ama resolution 214

from ana's response to ama resolution 214:

...february 2007 report entitled "changes in healthcare professions’ scope of practice: legislative considerations." this report was drafted collaboratively by representatives of six healthcare organizations, including the national council of state boards of nursing (ncsbn) – and the federation of state medical boards (fsmb). this report notes that "it is no longer reasonable to expect each profession to have a completely unique scope of practice, exclusive of all others. overlap among professions is necessary. no one profession actually owns a skill or activity in and of itself."

national council of state boards of nursing, retrieved june 6, 2008, http://www.ncsbn.org/scopeofpractice.pdf

[elkpark]

Well, that didn't take long, did it ... Just what us jaded, cynical old-timers were predicting. I hope Dr. Mundinger's happy!

[RN1982]

Wow, AMA is just a bunch of nurse-fearing elitists.

[caliotter3]

Hmm. Seems we're ruffling some feathers on some very old birds?

[MikeyJ, RN]

I applaud the AMA!

[RN1982]

Perhaps we should start a petition? I mean, as it is said in some of those response letters, there are 2.9 million of us.

[RN1982]

I applaud the AMA!

What for?

[Jo Dirt]

They're scared.

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

Some AMA history:

...Specifically designed to provide federal funds for improving maternal and infant care, the Sheppard-Towner Act enabled hundreds of nurses to visit homes, give health education and encourage prevention of disease.

The 1915 death rate for infants, 100 deaths for every thousand births in America, dropped to 69 deaths per thousand by 1928...

...In 1929 the Sheppard-Towner Act was allowed to lapse. Joining forces with political conservatives, the American Medical Association had damned the Act as "wasteful and extravagant, unproductive of results and tending to promote communism."...

http://www.neonatology.org/classics/mj1980/ch08.html

[ann945n, RN]

*sigh* didnt see that one coming

[WolfpackRed]

I would like some clarification on how the AMA feels the DNP would exacerbate the nursing shortage problem. There are too many issues that contribute to the nursing shortage, particulary at the bedside, and to feel that furthered education will make it worse is short-sighted.

I think that the first step to addressing the nursing shortage is to recognize and improve the issues that we face while delivering care at the bedside. I further believe that the argument that smarter nurses move away from the bedside is a false one. Again, fix the problems at the bedside and more would want to stay ther no matter the education level, although I do realize that most would not to get a DNP to stay at the bedside. However, I feel that patients deserve and have the right to the best educated and experienced nurses avalable.

[WolfpackRed]

Furthermore, the ANA response to resolution 303 hits the nail on the head. It is all about money and this is a step towards restriction and regulation of advanced nursing practice.