Eliminate paperwork interfering with care

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the nation will be short more than 130,000 physicians by 2025. Advanced Practice Nurses will be part of the solution for this shortage, with or without a collaborative agreement, which HB 421 proposes to eliminate in Illinois.

In the Unites States, 18 states and Washington, D.C., already allow APNs to diagnose, treat and prescribe without this agreement. Data in these states show that APNs provide high-quality, cost-effective care. Passage of HB 421 will not expand the APNs' scope of practice in Illinois, but will allow them to practice to the full extent of that scope without hampering their effectiveness as part of the care team.

Their education is at the master's/doctoral level with a specialty certification and many years of clinical experience. They do not all prescribe and the role varies widely.

There is overlap between the practice of APNs and physicians, but they also have unique areas of expertise, such as the APN's focus on health promotion and disease prevention. The paper that serves as a collaborative agreement does little to ensure that collaboration actually happens - the physician does not need to be present with the APN when the services are provided or to make an independent evaluation of each patient who is seen.

Eliminating this cumbersome agreement will allow APNs and physicians to work as colleagues with mutual respect and in the best interest of the people they both serve. APNs do not want to be physicians, but would like to practice within their scope and in genuine collaboration with physicians and other health care professionals.

Please contact your legislators and ask them to vote "Yes" to HB 421.

Juli Aistars

Lake Zurich