Nurse Practitioners To Lobby Federal Lawmakers In Record Numbers

AUSTIN, Texas, March 24, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), the largest professional membership organization for nurse practitioners in the country, is poised for a record day on Capitol Hill.

On Tuesday, March 31^st, AANP will lead its members to the offices of federal lawmakers for a total of more than 250 lobbying visits. The participating nurse practitioners, hailing from all corners of the United States, will urge their Congressional representatives to advance key legislation that improves patient access to needed health services. Priorities include:

• Passing the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2015
• Supporting the repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate
• Increasing the role of nurse practitioners at VA facilities
• Authorizing nurse practitioners to document evaluations for durable medical equipment

According to AANP, the number of visits the group has arranged with U.S. Senators' and U.S. House of Representatives' offices has increased 41 percent since last year, marking nurse practitioners' growing interest in making their voices heard on critical issues that concern their patient populations.

"Every day, nurse practitioners experience firsthand needless regulatory roadblocks that deny their patients the very best care that they're expertly educated and clinically trained to deliver," said David Hebert, Chief Executive Officer of AANP. "As a result, they're mobilizing in greater numbers. We expect this trend will continue with the nurse practitioner profession growing at a rapid pace."

Early this year, AANP released data showing that the number of nurse practitioners licensed in the United States has nearly doubled over the past decade, rising from approximately 106,000 in 2004 to 205,000 as of December 31, 2014.

AANP members are coming together in Washington, D.C. for the organization's annual Health Policy Conference, taking place at the Hyatt Regency on March 29-31. The conference is invitation only.

Nurse practitioners serve as primary, acute and specialty care providers across the country. They assess, order, perform and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests; make diagnoses; initiate and manage treatment; prescribe medications and non-pharmacologic treatments; and counsel patients, their families and communities. More than 50 years of peer-reviewed, independent research has shown nurse practitioners to be safe and cost-effective clinicians with patient outcomes that are similar and sometimes better than those of physicians.  

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) is the largest professional membership organization for nurse practitioners (NPs) of all specialties. It represents the interests of more than 205,000 NPs, including approximately 57,500 individual members and 200 organizations, providing a unified networking platform and advocating for their role as providers of high-quality, cost-effective, comprehensive, patient-centered and personalized health care. The organization provides legislative leadership at the local, state and national levels, advancing health policy; promoting excellence in practice, education and research; and establishing standards that best serve NP patients and other health care consumers.

For more information visit aanp.org. To locate a nurse practitioner in your area visit npfinder.com.

SOURCE American Association of Nurse Practitioners