There are many nurse practitioners (NPs) licensed and willing to provide primary health care services to the public across the country. However, there are some barriers that limit the practice of NPs in some states. These barriers are legislation against the full practice of NPs without supervision by a physician. This practice is called reduced practice or restricted practice. NPs should be solutions to the shortage of physicians and thus, this barrier should be removed at the state level and national level in general to provide more healthcare access.
Luckily, South Dakota is one of the states that has adopted “full practice” policy for NPs. Although, you must have completed 1040 hours of practice under a physician to be able to practice independently.
Full practice policy should be adopted in all states because access to healthcare is made more available at relatively cheaper costs. The training and all the processes one undergoes before becoming a registered NP ensure that only quality services from qualified personnel are rendered to the public. Hence, a physician’s supervision is unnecessary. You can combine efforts with certain bodies like the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) to advocate for the full practice policy of NPs throughout the United States.