The Healing Arts Scope of Practice Task Force, which was convened by Public Chapter 1046 to discuss access to care including delivery by the appropriate healthcare professional, often found Tennessee's advanced practice nurses and physicians on opposite sides of the issue. In fact, the task force was formed as an alternative to two competing bills proposed in the 2016 Tennessee General Assembly - one backed by the Tennessee Medical Association (TMA) that created team-based care models with the physician as the team leader and another backed by the Tennessee Nurses Association (TNA) that allowed APRNs to practice without a formal physician relationship. The resulting task force was co-chaired by John Hale, MD, and Carole Myers, PhD, RN, who each penned an editorial exclusive to Nashville Medical News sharing their viewpoints on scope of practice, access to care, and the potential impact on patients.

We Need More Collaboration in Healthcare, Not Less

By JOHN W. HALE, JR., MD

Tennessee Public Chapter 1046 created an equally balanced task force of advanced practice nurses and practicing physicians to "make recommendations to the general assembly for the improvement of Tennessee residents' health by providing access to quality and cost effective care." The group first met in June 2016 and, after several meetings and other deliberations, will issue a few recommendations to the General Assembly for legislators to consider in 2017....read more

Keys to Unlocking Better Patient Outcomes

By Carole R. Myers, PhD, RN

Former Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey and Speaker of the House Beth Harwell commissioned a Scope of Practice Task Force to change the conversation and the players in the ongoing debate about the need for and value of physician supervision of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) in the state. The 12,612 APRNs in Tennessee include 9,717 Nurse Practitioners (77.0 percent of the total), 2,564 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (20.3 percent), 193 Certified Nurse Midwives (1.5 percent), and 138 Clinical Nurse Specialists (1.1 percent)....read more