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Florida NPs Organize Rally at Capitol
Posted on:
November 25, 2009
Florida NPs have been seeking controlled substance (CS) prescribing authority for more than 15 years. Florida is one of only two states that have not awarded NPs this authority (Alabama is other).
After another disappointment in the 2008 legislative session, the Senate committee that tabled the controlled substance prescribing bill ordered an investigative report that resulted in a recommendation to the committee in 2009. That report firmly supports CS authority for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). In Florida law, NPs are grouped with nurse anesthetists, clinical nurse specialists and nurse midwives under the single category APRNs.
Armed with this Senate report, Florida's APRNs are entering 2010 with a new determination. "To continue denying access to healthcare for people who live in Florida's underserved areas is a travesty," said Susan Lynch, vice president of legislative affairs for the Florida Nurse Practitioner Network (FNPN). "We need to be able to have all willing providers available in order to reach every citizen and make sure people are not being denied healthcare just because they are poor or live in rural, underserved areas."
A coalition of APRNs is now working to educate the public and legislators about the pressing need to change the law. Public appearances by APRNs in media outlets, plus letter writing, lectures and a March 2010 rally at the state capitol are planned. Jeff Hazzard, NP, and Jean Aertker, NP, FNPN board member, are spearheading the effort for the rally.
"We call it our 'Rally in Tally' and we are pulling out all the stops," said Hazzard, referring to the state capital of Tallahassee. "Our aim is to have a large number of our 13,000 APRNs at the capitol to make a statement by our presence. . If you are an APRN in Florida, you need to be at the rally on March 24 to advocate for your patients who are suffering. No excuses!"
Aertker echoed Hazzard's sentiments: "Nurse practitioner practice is evolving to come into its own. Our professional practice role is integral to the safety and access and affordability of care. Florida health policies should support, not handcuff, this care for its citizens. Not being able to provide the care for which APRNs are educated, tested and certified serves no useful purpose to the public. Just the opposite is true; the public is being harmed when its access to care is denied by senseless restrictions in the law."
For more information and to sign up to attend the rally, go to www.fnpn.org and click on the "Rally in Tally" button at the home page.
ADVANCE thanks Jeffrey Hazzard, NP, for contributing this report.
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