Nurse Talks - Nurse Empowerment Series: Empowering Nurses in Policy: The Impact of Full Practice Authority on Texas Economy

This presentation reviews strategies to advancing health policy related to full practice authority for nurse practitioners including outcomes and safety data, grassroots advocacy efforts, an economic impact study, media and stakeholder perception, and nurses as policy makers. This presentation will review research funded by the TLL Temple Foundation and conducted at Texas A&M University to evaluate the economic impact of full practice authority for nurse practitioners on Texas economy. This study examined whether eliminating physician oversight and supervision for nurse practitioners would help alleviate severe health provider shortages, boost state economy, and maintain a cost effective and safe health care system. Findings confirmed lifting oversight restrictions on NPs will create over 4,000 new jobs in the state and add nearly $5 billion dollars in savings to state GDP in year one, jumping to $4.6 billion over a 10-year period. These effects are more significant in rural and underserved areas. Eliminating NP restrictions on practice will substantially alleviate the primary care provider shortages by 2,376 providers, (32%), and reduce the psychiatric provider shortage by 13%.