Advocate

APRN Legislative Review-Greater Texas NAPNAP

Health policy related to APRN practice has been evolving rapidly, both locally and nationally. Legislative and regulatory advances are being made, but they are at risk, and we still have a long way to go.

Within Texas, the main APRN legislative advocacy group is the APRN Alliance, which is made up of 4 APRN groups: Texas Nurse Practitioners, Texas Association of Nurse Anesthetists, Consortium of Texas Certified Nurse-Midwives, and Texas Clinical Nurse Specialists; with the support of the Texas Nurses Association. 

Over one third of the United States currently have full practice authority, and Texas is among only 12 states that still has restricted practice.  We have a long way to go to catch up to the rest of the country!

Nationally, there are many legislative and regulatory issues that affect NPs.   National NAPNAP has been very active in Health Policy, providing PNPs many resources to keep up to date:

• Register for the monthly Learning Collaborative phone call, open to all NAPNAP members. 
• Inside the Beltway is a bi-monthly newsletter focusing on national policy. There is also a state policy mentors program to assist local chapters.
• National AANP Health Policy Conference (Advocacy Scholars program or individual attendance )
• NAPNAP National Convention
  

Greater Texas Chapter members have several additional sources to keep up with legislative issues:

•  The National NAPNAP Advocacy Center,
• Greater Texas NAPNAP member email blasts
• The Quarterly Newsletter
• The Greater Texas Chapter Website
• General Meeting Legislative Updates

We need all NPs united in support of our legislative efforts in order to achieve our goals. We need you!