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Expanding NP Scope of
Practice: An Update
E
arlier this year, Nebraska and Maryland joined 19 other states that allow NPs
to practice to the fullest extent of their education by enacting new full prac-
tice authority licensure and practice laws for NPs. For new NP graduates as well
as practicing NPs, this means more opportunities for NPs to use the full set of
skills acquired through education and clinical experience. In many states, how-
ever, there remains a gap between the care that NPs are educated and clinically
prepared to provide and the care that state practice laws allow NPs to provide.
Types of State Practice Laws
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) has been at the fore-
front of efforts to expand NPs' scope of practice. As the AANP notes, full practice
authority is "the collection of state practices and licensure laws that allow for
NPs to evaluate patients, diagnose, order, and interpret diagnostic tests, initiate
and manage treatments—including prescribing medications—under the exclu-
sive licensure authority of the state board of nursing."
1
With full practice authori-
ty, NPs are responsible only to a state board of nursing for meeting the stan-
dards of care.
The AANP also defines two categories of state practice and licensure limits on
NP scope of practice: reduced practice and restricted practice. In states with a
reduced practice regulatory structure, NPs are required by law to have a collabo-
rative agreement with an outside health discipline in order to provide patient
Inside
NP Scope of Practice ....... 1
Review Courses ................ 6
Certification Q& A ............. 7
Diagnostic Challenge ...... 15
News Briefs ..................... 17
FHEA Faculty News ..........24
2015 Live Courses
Pharmacology Update
(2-day course)
The Art of Wound Repair
(1-day course)
NP Essentials
(4-day course)
NP Certification
Exam Review
Course Tracks
Family, Adult-Gerontology,
and Adult Primary Care
Adult-Gerontology
Acute Care
Pediatric Primary Care
Psychiatric-Mental
Health
Women's Health
Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc.
fhea.com C
ommitted to the success of nurse practitioners
1
Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc. 978•794•8366 Volume 15, Issue 5, May 2015
Full Practice
Reduced Practice
Restricted Practice
Used with permission
from AANP.
DC