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Nurse&Practitioners&–&Valuable&Health&Care&Providers&
Nurse&Practitioner&Week,&November&9&<&15&
By!Michael!Hazel,!DNP,!APRN,!FNP4BC,!President,!Texas!Nurse!Practitioners!
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This!week!is!National!Nurse!Practitioner!(NP)!Week!and!time!to!celebrate!a!valuable,!yet!underutilized!
healthcare!provider.!!!
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In!Texas,!there!are!roughly!13,000!highly!educated,!seasoned!NP!professionals.!We!are!first!and!
foremost!registered!nurses!with!between!600!and!750!clinical!hours!at!the!undergraduate!level.!Before!
becoming!an!NP,!we!average!at!least!10!years!of!on4the4job!registered!nursing!experience!in!diverse!
settings.!!We!have!either!a!master’s!or!doctoral!degree!–!sometimes!both!4!which!require!an!additional!
500!to!1,000!hours!of!clinical!training.!
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NPs!are!required!to!meet!state!licensure!and!national!certification!requirements.!!We!aren’t!doctors!and!
we!don’t!want!to!be!but!our!record!of!providing!patient4centered,!holistic!care!is!exceptional!and!has!
been!recognized!repeatedly!throughout!the!past!45!years!in!peer4reviewed!research.!
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Despite!improvements!made!in!2013!to!statutes!regulating!NPs,!Texas!unnecessarily!remains!one!of!the!
most!restrictive!states!for!NP!practice.!!Texas!still!requires!an!NP!to!find!a!physician!willing!to!delegate!
authority!to!diagnose!and!prescribe!and!mandates!that!the!two!providers!meet!face4to4face!on!a!
monthly!basis.!!These!barriers!are!costly!and!in!place!only!to!discourage!NPs!from!opening!private!clinics!
and!competing!with!doctors.!!In!fact,!these!barriers!only!drive!up!patient!costs!and!limits!access!to!care,!
often!forcing!patients!to!turn!to!the!ER!for!basic!primary!care!services.!
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Many!states!like!New!Mexico,!Colorado!and,!Arizona!don’t!have!these!overly!restrictive!regulations.!!In!
fact,!Governor!Susanna!Martinez!and!the!New!Mexico!state!legislature!actually!put!together!a!plan!and!
appropriated!taxpayer!funds!to!recruit!NPs!specifically!from!Texas.!!And!you!know!what?!!It’s!working.!!
NPs!from!El!Paso!and!in!the!South!Plains!are!headed!to!these!friendlier!states!to!help!to!close!their!
primary!care!shortfall!and!to!be!treated!like!the!professionals!they!are.!What!a!loss!for!Texas.!
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I!am!proud!to!call!Texas!my!home.!My!goal!is!not!to!be!a!doctor!but!to!practice!to!the!fullest!extent!that!
my!education!and!certification!will!allow!in!order!to!positively!impact!the!lives!of!my!patients.!
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To!celebrate!NP!Week,!I!am!calling!my!state!legislators!and!asking!that!Texas!finally!move!to!fully!
modernize!NP!regulations.!!I!am!armed!with!research!from!The!Institute!of!Medicine,!AARP,!the!National!
Governor’s!Association,!and!the!Federal!Trade!Commission!that!fully!support!my!request.!!It’s!time!we!
brought!simple!economic!principles!into!the!medical!marketplace!and!let!patients!have!more!choices!
and!more!freedoms!in!how!they!want!to!be!treated.!!
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