PA State Nurses Association Places a Call-to-Action for Improved Health Care

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

february 4

pa state nurses association places a call-to-action for improved health care

the association asks the commonwealth to utilize the thousands of

advanced practice nurses to help solve the issues of delivering quality care in an over-burdened health care system.

the pa state nurses association, in collaboration with the alliance of advanced practice nurses, today released an extensive briefing paper, entitled "solving one piece of the health care delivery crisis puzzle: an action agenda for the commonwealth of pennsylvania," examining the full scope of advanced practice nurses and their capability to significantly expand the capacity of pennsylvania's health care system.

this briefing paper provides thorough background information about nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and nurse midwives -- all registered nurses with advanced education - and supportive evidence of how and why the proposed solutions will deliver measurable results that will support the health care system and the advancement of care.

"the pa state nurse association feels strongly that advanced practice nurses are under-utilized and because of this lack of use, patients suffer," said michele p. campbell, msn, rnc, executive administrator for the pa state nurses association. "many of the problems plaguing the health care industry derive from inappropriate allocation of resources, and this briefing paper highlights how advanced practice nurses are more than capable of delivering real solutions to the present allocation crisis - all while providing additional benefits including bringing quality care to underserved areas and reducing medical costs."

"as much as 80% of adult primary care services and 90% of pediatric primary care services can be performed by advanced practice nurses - offering an untapped resource for the entire state to increase access to care for patients. with specialized advanced medical education and clinical competency to provide health and medical care for diverse populations, there is no reason why advanced practice nurses should not be utilized to the fullest extent of their capabilities," said sheila gealey, president of the pennsylvania coalition of nurse practitioners.

"this call-to-action is about delivering better-quality care and improving how our health care system operates," said tine hansen-turton, ed of the national nursing centers consortium. "we hope this briefing paper will be a pivotal piece in educating our legislators, health care administrators and patients, so that we may move toward a more efficient and effective system of administering care"

among the key resolutions within the briefing paper are the following:

• create meaningful consumer access to advanced practice nurses through greater representation as primary care providers in insurance company provider networks.
  
• end the further creation of unintended barriers within statute rhetoric by adopting language rules that use a more inclusive term than physician -- extending to appropriate health care professionals -- for legislative intent.
  
• expand consumer access to care by advanced practice nurses by eliminating existing statutory barriers that prohibit nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives and clinical nurse specialists from performing their full scope of practice in all settings, for all populations.
  

for a complete copy of the briefing paper, or to request an interview, please contact mandy priest by emailing [email protected] or by calling 888-707-7762 x 208 (cell 1-443-690-4197). copies are also available at www.panurses.org.

click here to download the entire briefing paper.