National Nurse Practitioner Week is held annually to celebrate our exceptional healthcare providers, and to remind lawmakers of the importance of removing outdated barriers to practice so Nurse Practitioners (NPs) will be allowed to practice to the full extent of their experience and education.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, nurse practitioners have been on the frontlines of healthcare delivery, ensuring patients have access to lifesaving vaccinations, as well as primary, acute, long-term, and specialty care. To honor their many contributions to the health of communities nationwide, Sotera Digital Health is recognizing the critical role of NPs as part of the annual National Nurse Practitioner Week (NP Week) celebration, held November 13-19 this year.
NPs are highly educated, clinically competent, and independent healthcare professionals who, in addition to their fundamental roles as nurses, can provide primary care, counseling, diagnosis, offer health education, and write prescriptions (under their state’s scope of practice laws).
With over 1 billion patients attended to in a year, we can evidently see the importance of nurse practitioners. Additionally, NPs help reduce the cost of healthcare and the risks of advanced health complications.
Unfortunately, this valuable resource is often underutilized because of outdated state laws restricting nurse practitioners from practicing at full capacity in their field. For example, many states still require an NP working in an outpatient clinic setting to have a physician on-site – limiting their ability to provide continuity of care for their patients by reducing access to specialty care when needed.
Certain state laws also prohibit nurse practitioners from providing primary care services in rural areas where access to physicians is limited or nonexistent, leaving rural residents at greater risk for health problems and illness complications.
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) has been working tirelessly for over 50 years to advocate for NPs across all disciplines. National Nurse Practitioner Week is a time for us to pause and reflect on how far we’ve come in recognizing these professionals’ expertise.
The nurse practitioner profession started in 1965 to respond to the increasing demand for primary care providers in the United States. The government recently expanded Medicare and Medicaid to cover disadvantaged people, leading to a mismatch in the number of available physicians and the large population of people now qualified for primary care.
The first nurse practitioner program (NP) was launched at the University of Colorado in 1965 by NP pioneers Loretta Ford, EdD, PNP, FAAN, and Henry Silver, MD. It started as a certificate program, but in the early 1970s, the university upgraded it to a full master’s degree program.
In the 1970s, the NP program, primarily focused on pediatrics, was expanded to other areas, including family NP programs and adult NP programs. By 1973, the NP programs had grown to 65. The following year, the American Nurses Association (ANA) established the Council of Primary Care Nurse Practitioners to legitimize the role of Nurse Practitioners. By 1977, the ANA was offering NP certification exams. Before the end of the decade, the number of NPs had increased to 15,000
In 1985, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) was founded and gained 100 members at the end of its first year. The government began investing in the Nurse Practitioner profession, with $100 million spent on NP education by 1987.
Despite its acceptance by the government, nurse practitioners were not legally recognized as providers, which restricted them from accessing reimbursement. The NP leaders began working with various stakeholders to ensure NPs were eligible for reimbursement. That led to the Omnibus Reconciliation Act being passed by Congress in 1989 and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
Although nurse practitioners are legally allowed to practice in all 50 states, some restrictions are still placed on their range of practice, even today. Such rules led to the AANP creating National Nurse Practitioner Week in 2004 to celebrate the importance of nurse practitioners and get lawmakers to remove the barriers to practice.
The simplest way you can celebrate Nurse Practitioner Week is to say “thank you” to any nurse practitioner you know and let them know you appreciate the work they are doing. You can show that by sending them a handwritten thank-you note, a small gift, or even taking them to breakfast or dinner.
Each year, the AANP releases a Nurse Practitioner Week proclamation for public officials to sign to officially recognize “the countless contributions NPs have made over the past half-century and will continue to make on behalf of the health and well-being of citizens.” Go to the AANP website, download the proclamation, send it to your local public officials, and get them to sign it. If possible, you can try reaching out to your state governor.
Another way to celebrate Nurse Practitioner Week is to organize an event if you have the capacity. This can be a fundraising drive, health-awareness program, or a local luncheon that brings together charitable and health organizations in your community. Regardless of the type of event, let the theme center around the importance of NPs to the community.
Sources:
https://storage.aanp.org/www/documents/NPWeek_Proclamation.pdf
https://storage.aanp.org/www/documents/2022_NP_Week_Resource_Guide.pdf