Nurse Practitioner State Practice Environment Map
Minnesota Becomes 19th State to Provide Patients with Full and Direct Access to Nurse Practitioner Services
AANP commends Governor Dayton and the Minnesota legislature on passage of Senate File 511 and urges other states to take similar steps to modernize licensure laws.
AUSTIN, TX (May 13, 2014) – Angela Golden and Kenneth Miller, Co-Presidents of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), welcome the news that Minnesota’s Governor Dayton and the Minnesota legislature have passed Senate File 511, retiring the requirement that nurse practitioners maintain career-long collaborative agreements. The move makes Minnesota the 19th state, plus the District of Columbia, offering patients full and direct access to nurse practitioner services. According to AANP, it is an important step that improves access to care and more effectively uses nurse practitioners to meet the state’s growing health care needs.
Golden and Miller said: “Minnesota legislators overwhelmingly voiced their support for the evidence surrounding nurse practitioner quality and care. By signing Senate File 511 into law, they’ve removed a needless regulatory bottleneck that better positions the state to meet existing and future health care workforce needs. This step will quickly begin to positively impact the health of Minnesotans, and has the potential to reach underserved pockets of the state with new, flexible, coordinated care models.
“That said, Senate File 511 does include concessions to state medical associations – organizations that would have otherwise continued actively opposing the proposed law – that leave some health care challenges in place. This comes at a time when the changing demographics of health care, especially primary care, necessitates that states make full use of the nurse practitioner workforce. The nursing community is committed to addressing these challenges in future sessions to ensure that patients have a choice of health provider and receive full access to the health services they need.
“We urge lawmakers in all states to adopt the national standards for nurse practitioners recommended by the Institute of Medicine, the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures, and adopt the consensus model from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.”
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Resources
American Association of Nurse Practitioners – http://www.aanp.org/press-room/press-releases/161-press-room/2014-press-releases/1518-minnesota-becomes-19th-state-to-provide-patients-with-full-and-direct-access-to-nurse-practitioner-services