We need your urgent help – the Senate Health Committee will discuss SB 2110, updates to the Nurse Practice Act, early next week – they MUST hear from you now!
It’s important that you contact as many senators from the Health Committee as you can as quickly as possible, as the Health Committee is closing at the end of next week. Pass along your support and be heard.
This legislation seeks to modernize the Nurse Practice Act and allow for APRNs to practice to the full extent of their education and certification without costly regulations and physician oversight.
Now is the time to reach out to them. Please see the below list of Senators who need to hear from all of you:
Senate Health Committee Members:
Please call and email them, and ask them to support SB2110 by voting YES!
Below are some talking points you can use when you email or call their office. Please let us know what type of response you receive from them.
- Removing the red tape will allow APRNs to continue to provide the exact same level of care and patient services they currently provide (data fully supports this), but without prohibitive costs that harm practices, improving healthcare access.
- APRNs are educated, trained, and certified at the master’s, post-master's and doctoral levels to deliver high quality health care to patients of all ages. This legislation will not change the services that APRNs currently offer to their patients. It only cuts the red tape surrounding their ability practice in populations that need it.
- Current Tennessee laws and regulations impose unnecessary and burdensome restrictions by MANDATING costly agreements on Advanced Practice Registered Nurses that increase health care costs.
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States that implement APRN reforms spend 17% less per capita on outpatient care, 11% less on prescription drugs, and 15% less on pediatric preventive care.[
- APRNs make up a greater share of the primary care workforce in less densely populated areas, rural areas and lower income areas.
- There are 12,444 APRNs in Tennessee; an average of 131 per county.
- APRNs are the fastest growing segment of the primary care professional workforce in the US.
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Tennessee Federal Health Professional Short Areas for Primary Care 2018:[3]
- Whole County considered Underserved Areas: 54 Counties
- Partial County considered Underserved Areas: 5 Counties
- Whole County considered Medically Underserved Populations: 32 Counties
- Multiple studies show that APRNs provide at least equal quality of care to patients as compared to physicians in components such as patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, time spent with patients, prescribing accuracy, and the provision of preventive education.
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Tennessee ranks 44th in overall health rankings. That will never be improved unless we modernize our laws and rules to keep pace with the ever changing health care environment.
Make sure to share a story with the senator on:
- How this legislation will impact your profession.
- How this will impact your ability to care for your patients.
Thank you for your continued support. Please visit AccessToCareTN.com for more information and tools.
Thank you,
Carla Kirkland, MSN, APRN, ACNP-BC, FNP-BC, ENP-BC
President, Collierville
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