As Congress considers changes to the health care system, nurse practitioners (NPs) request that any reform or replacement legislation:
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) urges Congress to ensure that any health care reform legislation is patient centric and includes NPs as a high-quality health care provider.
NPs have delivered high-quality health care to their patients for over half a century and are the health care provider of choice for millions of patients throughout the country. They are advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who are prepared at the master’s or doctoral level to provide primary, acute, chronic and specialty care to patients of all ages and walks of life.
NP daily practice consists of: assessment; diagnosis; initiating and managing treatment, including ordering, performing, supervising and interpreting diagnostic and laboratory tests; prescribing medication; coordination of care; counseling; and educating patients, their families and communities.
NPs practice in a wide variety of settings, including but not limited to: clinics, hospitals, emergency rooms, urgent care sites, private physician or NP practices (both managed and owned by NPs), nursing homes, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health facilities, Indian Health facilities, schools, colleges, retail clinics, public health departments, nurse-managed clinics and homeless clinics.
NPs hold prescriptive authority in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. NPs are widely recognized for the high-quality care they provide to patients, as evidenced by the more than 870 million annual patient visits made to NPs.
For additional information, please contact the AANP Government Affairs Office at 703-740-2529 or governmentaffairs@aanp.org.