rpackelly Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 California’s Independent Practice NP bills just passed out of committee this week. California’s unionized nurses have a huge war chest and these bills have a good chance of passing and being signed by Gov. Brown. This has the potential of dramatically impacting employment for California PAs. A decade ago or so, PAs in Cali had to have an approved supervising physician and that doc had to apply to the board and pay $$$$. NPs had to have collaborating physicians who did not need approval. That is the origin of the employment inequity; that and the huge power of the California Nurses Association within the legislature. An example of that power is the fact that Cali has the only law enforcing a minimum nurse/patient ratio in hospitals; nurses in California have the highest average compensation of any state. Michigan also has seen independent practice NP bills introduced with much less success in the state legislature. As another poster pointed out, because the NPs deliberately removed themselves from the modernization bill two years ago, they do not have Schedule II permission in the outpatient setting whereas PAs do, and PAs can also sign any form that can be signed by an MD/DO and order PT. Additionally, unionization of nurse practice is not as common in MI as it is in California, which reduces the lobbying funds available to nursing in general. Independent NP practice in California, the most populous US state, would have a vast and detrimental impact on PA standing there. AAPA and CAPA know this but the sheer number of nurses in california and their backing by organized labor really upsets a level playing field in terms of funding available for political lobbying. Whereas in many states the political clout of organized medicine is greater than that of organized nursing, in California nursing might have the edge. We as PAs do not need to be “protected” but we do deserve parity; we should not be discriminated against because we believe in physician involvement in all levels of health care. Unfortunately this long held strategy may well put us in danger in some states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpackelly Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 California’s Independent Practice NP bills just passed out of committee this week. California’s unionized nurses have a huge war chest and these bills have a good chance of passing and being signed by Gov. Brown. This has the potential of dramatically impacting employment for California PAs. A decade ago or so, PAs in Cali had to have an approved supervising physician and that doc had to apply to the board and pay $$$$. NPs had to have collaborating physicians who did not need approval. That is the origin of the employment inequity; that and the huge power of the California Nurses Association within the legislature. An example of that power is the fact that Cali has the only law enforcing a minimum nurse/patient ratio in hospitals; nurses in California have the highest average compensation of any state. Michigan also has seen independent practice NP bills introduced with much less success in the state legislature. As another poster pointed out, because the NPs deliberately removed themselves from the modernization bill two years ago, they do not have Schedule II permission in the outpatient setting whereas PAs do, and PAs can also sign any form that can be signed by an MD/DO and order PT. Additionally, unionization of nurse practice is not as common in MI as it is in California, which reduces the lobbying funds available to nursing in general. Independent NP practice in California, the most populous US state, would have a vast and detrimental impact on PA standing there. AAPA and CAPA know this but the sheer number of nurses in california and their backing by organized labor really upsets a level playing field in terms of funding available for political lobbying. Whereas in many states the political clout of organized medicine is greater than that of organized nursing, in California nursing might have the edge. We as PAs do not need to be “protected” but we do deserve parity; we should not be discriminated against because we believe in physician involvement in all levels of health care. Unfortunately this long held strategy may well put us in danger in some states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMPAhopeful Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 PA's For Tomorrow has the most clear mission statement I have seen. The AAPA seems to be the most dysfunctional and out-of-touch organization I have seen. Until they clean house, there is little hope. I hope that PAs for Tomorrow can implement the goals and vision that it has for the PA profession. For those of us that have worked with (or as) nurses for so long, sometimes we tend to drink the Kool-Aid, and believe that NP is just a better option than PA, if for no other reason than the autonomy/independence. I don't know if anyone's stated this in this thread (I've heard it somewhere), but I think the ideal situation would be an advanced practice clinician with the education of the PA and the autonomy/independence of the NP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMPAhopeful Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 PA's For Tomorrow has the most clear mission statement I have seen. The AAPA seems to be the most dysfunctional and out-of-touch organization I have seen. Until they clean house, there is little hope. I hope that PAs for Tomorrow can implement the goals and vision that it has for the PA profession. For those of us that have worked with (or as) nurses for so long, sometimes we tend to drink the Kool-Aid, and believe that NP is just a better option than PA, if for no other reason than the autonomy/independence. I don't know if anyone's stated this in this thread (I've heard it somewhere), but I think the ideal situation would be an advanced practice clinician with the education of the PA and the autonomy/independence of the NP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMPAhopeful Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 PA's For Tomorrow has the most clear mission statement I have seen. The AAPA seems to be the most dysfunctional and out-of-touch organization I have seen. Until they clean house, there is little hope. I hope that PAs for Tomorrow can implement the goals and vision that it has for the PA profession. For those of us that have worked with (or as) nurses for so long, sometimes we tend to drink the Kool-Aid, and believe that NP is just a better option than PA, if for no other reason than the autonomy/independence. I don't know if anyone's stated this in this thread (I've heard it somewhere), but I think the ideal situation would be an advanced practice clinician with the education of the PA and the autonomy/independence of the NP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.