Give your opinion for case 1 and case 2.
Provide at least two references for each case.
Using APA format. References not older than 5 years don’t need to provide face/cover page. But yes to the reference page.
Case 1:
State nurse organizations and specialty organizations are organized affiliates of the American Nurses Association (ANA). At the state and national levels, these organizations form strong coalitions, together share information and collaborate on different strategies to advance the nursing profession. Having confronted numerous legislative practice barriers that restrict access to healthcare, the Nurse Practitioner Association of New State initiated efforts to amend restrictive statutes that will in turn improve NP’s practice environment and access to healthcare (Elwell & Ferrara, 2014). The authors further added, in 2008, “The NP Autonomous Act” was submitted to the New York State Legislature. The bill made little progress. However, through multiple efforts and negotiations, the bill was renamed “The Nurse Practitioner Modernization Act” (NPMA), to reflect that there were no expansions to the nurse practice act, rather the renamed bill will bring up to date statute consistent with the 21st century public health needs (Elwell & Ferrara, 2014). On March 31, 2014, despite strong opposition from the state medical society, “The Nurse Practitioner Modernization Act” passed both the Senate and Assembly. The bill was passed into law on April 1, 2014. This statute will allow nurse practitioners to practice without a written practice agreement with physicians.
In regards to bill SB 3280-2013, the New York State Nurse Association efforts will eventually have a significant impact on the functionality of the bill. The justification for amending the “Mental Hygiene Law,” was due to the shortage of psychiatrists in certain areas of the State of New York, with this shortage, came a lack of mental health related care services provided to individuals. This legislation would allow nurse practitioners, acting within their lawful scope of practice and certified in psychiatry, to admit a patient to an inpatient mental health unit on a voluntary or involuntary basis. According to Muxworthy & Bowllan (2011), the NP Modernization act is necessary, as statutory collaboration serves no clinical purpose. Further, statutory collaboration does not established the quality of care provided by the NP, nor does it serve a purpose of access to care; “ If anything, statutory collaboration limits access to care,” (Muxworthy & Bowllan, 2011). In short, it has become apparent that removing barriers to nurse practitioners will in turn be beneficial to consumers, nurses, physicians, and the healthcare system.
Case 2:
The American Nurses Association (ANA) and the Florida Nurses Association (FNA) are organizational affiliates of each other. “ANA and its state nurses associations’ lobbying efforts are contributing to health care reform on both state and national levels” (American Nurses Association, 2014a). The ANA is the main political voice for registered nurses, and the FNA also has a political voice at the state and government level. Delegates of the FNA are voted on and are sent to Congress to lobby for nurses alongside the ANA delegates (Fuller, 2009). Together they lobby for nurses to practice to the fullest extent of their scope and addressing barriers to nursing practice. The ANA and FNA vigorously work together to face the challenges of nurses (Fuller, 2012). “When the FNA represents Registered Nurses for collective bargaining there is a specific process in place for the election of officers, negotiating their contracts and dealing with workplace issues” (Florida Nurses Association, 2014a). The ANA position on Medicaid reimbursements to expand on fee-for-services to include direct payment for services provided by all nurse practitioners (NPs), and other advance practice nurses (APN)to recognize nurse practitioners as primary case managers, and to include NPs and other APN on the Medicaid panel (ANA, 2014b). The FNA states they believe that “expanding the Medicaid program to 1.06 million Floridians is consistent with the ethical stance of the nursing profession” (FNA, 2014b).