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Don't let the Arkansas Board of Medicine regulate YOUR practice

Posted over 7 years ago by ANPA Admin

This announcement has 3 attachments:
HB 1254_1525 talking points (630 KB)
HB 1254_1525 letter to legislators (64 KB)
PHWL Committee Members-House (12 KB)

Arkansas Board of Medicine Regulation Bill is NOT DEAD!  Urgent Action Needed to defeat HB 1254 and HB 1525.

 Once again, we want you to contact the House Public Health Welfare and Labor (PHWL) Committee members to ask them to OPPOSE HB 1254 and HB 1525. Additionally, contact your own Representative.  Find them at www.arkansasfornurses.com and send a pre-written letter or edit one and send your personalized message.

Neither of the bills have been heard yet, but we anticipate them to be heard any day.

  • HB  1254 would transfer APRN regulation from the Arkansas State Board of Nursing (ARSBN) to the Arkansas Medical Board (AMB)
  • HB 1525 would require the ARSBN and the AMB to develop a joint application process for collaborative agreements between APRNs and collaborating physicians

There are zero states where APRNs are regulated entirely by medical boards and only four states with joint regulation of APRN practice.

Here are some major points to emphasize when you communicate with your legislators.

  1. The ARSBN has done an excellent job in the regulation of APRNs…there is no valid reason for this unnecessary legislation
  2. Physicians do not have expertise to:  
    • assess nursing education and training programs
    • assess nursing competencies
  3. Dual regulatory oversight is duplicative, wasteful, and confusing for healthcare consumers and practitioners. It will cost the state money to implement this.
  4. Inter-professional competition results from one profession being regulated by a second profession
  5. These bills could be interpreted as a conflict of interest and may result in anticompetitive and antitrust inquiries supporting legal action, similar to the N.C. Board of Dental Examiners vs. FTC, 574 U.S. (2015)  http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/north-carolina-board-of-dental-examiners-v-federal-trade-commission/
  6. You may hear people using the presence of LPNs on the ARSBN as an argument for placing APRNs under the regulation or joint regulation of the medical board (HB 1254 and HB 1525). The rebuttal for this argument is:
  7. The Arkansas State Board of Nursing has 13 members, including 10 nurses, 2 of whom must be APRNs, who are appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. These numbers are reasonable considering the relative numbers of LPNs, RN, and APRNs in our state.
  8. The Board is advised by the Prescriptive Authority Advisory Committee which includes 4 APRNs, 1 physician (who has been in collaborative practice with an APRN for at least 5 years), and a licensed pharmacist. This committee is the one that advises and assists “the Board in implementing the provisions of this chapter regarding prescriptive authority” (Section 17-87-205 of the Nurse Practice Act, p. 8). http://www.arsbn.org/Websites/arsbn/images/NursePracticeAct.July.2015.pdf  

WHAT CAN YOU DO?:

  1. Please communicate with your legislator today.
  2. Access the easy to use, prewritten and editable message at http://nursesforarkansas.com/take-action/(Scroll down and Click on State Issues: Please Oppose HB 1254 & 1525 Board of Medicine Regulation for APRNs to access the message)
  3. Use the attached list of House PHWL Committee members and send a message to each member. See attached a sample letter and talking points. Personalize the sample letter with your own statements.
  4. Come to the Capitol on Tuesday or Thursday this week to attend the House PHWL meeting in person. Wear a lab coat or something that identifies you as a nurse. We do not know when the nursing bills will be heard, but it is very supportive if we have a presence before and during the meetings.
  5. Recognize that we have made great progress this year…and we are NOT FINISHED.

Keep watching for messages and Action Alerts about the nursing-related bills. You can stay updated at: 

ANPA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Arkansas-Nurse-Practitioner-Association-177076869145677/

www.arkansasfornurses.com

As Always,

Your friends at the Arkansas Nurse Practitioner Association 

in collaboration with the Arkansas Nursing Policy Roundtable and Nurses for Arkansas