ANPA Supports HB1258

After over two months of negotiation, consultation with our legislative champions, lobbyist, and ANPA members throughout the state, the ANPA Board of Directors decided to support HB1258 when it is presented in committee on March 2nd.

The bill can be located at https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/Detail?id=HB1258&ddBienniumSession=2021/2021R. We spoke with Senator Hammer and expect amendments as requested by ANPA membership and board.

This bill will:

• Provide a path to prescribing without a collaborative practice agreement for NPs with 6,240 hours of practice (approximately 3 years).
• Provide an independent committee, with equal number of APRNs and physicians, to review and approve “full independent practice authority” applications
• Require the committee to provide a written explanation to any applicant who is denied.
• Require the committee to report to the legislature quarterly regarding applications approved and denied.
• Allow the committee to investigate complaints related to “full independent practice authority,” but NO other aspects of our advanced nursing practice.
• Guarantee regulation of our RN and APRN licenses and certificate of prescriptive authority (for prescribing within a collaborative practice agreement) remains under the control of the Arkansas State Board of Nursing.

This bill will NOT:

• Allow full Schedule II prescribing. Arkansas will remain a reduced practice state.
• Put our practice under the medical board. Physicians will be on the committee and the committee may consult with the boards of nursing AND medicine if they have questions; however, nothing in this bill places the medical board in control of our practice.

Many details will be worked out by the committee as they promulgate rules. Our legislative champions have assured us that they will monitor this process closely and requested we make recommendations regarding those rules. ANPA will also be monitoring this process closely. We are confident that it is the intention of Representative Johnson, Senator Hammer, and the other legislative champions to move us forward on the path to full practice authority.

This is not the bill that we hoped would pass when we started this legislative session. We were advised that our original bill, even with amendments to mirror HB 1258, will not be successful if run.

We feel that HB1258 will move us closer to the goal of full practice authority for nurse practitioners in Arkansas. We expect this will be an opportunity for hundreds, if not thousands, of nurse practitioners in Arkansas to prescribe without a collaborative practice agreement. Please join the ANPA board of Directors in supporting HB 1258.