Nurse Practitioners Urge Congress To Improve Health Care Access

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, March 22, nearly 300 members of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) will call on Congress to strengthen patient access to vital health care services. As the nation's largest professional organization representing nurse practitioners, AANP's delegation will elevate the voices of 205,000 nurse practitioners in meetings with 264 Members of Congress and staff, an organizational record. 

AANP members will share their insights on some of the nation's most pressing health care challenges, from combatting chronic disease and substance abuse to ensuring patient access to high-quality primary, acute and specialty health care in rural and urban settings. They will urge Members of Congress to support critical health care priorities, including:

• Passage of the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act (S. 578/H.R. 1342)
• Recognition of nurse practitioners and other Advanced Practice Nurses' authority to practice to their full scope at Veterans Administration facilities (H.R. 1247, H.R. 4134, S. 2279 & S. 297)
• Enactment of legislation to ensure diabetic patients timely access to therapeutic shoes (H.R. 4756)
• Passage of legislation to enable nurse practitioners to prescribe and manage specialized treatments for patients struggling with opioid addiction.

"America's nurse practitioners are leading the way to meet our nation's health care needs," said David Hebert, CEO of AANP.  "They are partners in health to millions of Americans with a 50-year track record of timely, safe, high-quality and cost-effective health care."

"The time is right for our lawmakers to give patients full and direct access to NPs and their outstanding patient-centered care," said AANP President Cindy Cooke, DNP, FNP-C, FAANP.

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 nonpharmacologic treatments; and counsel patients, their families and communities.

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 more than 65,000 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.

Media Contacts:
Marichelli Hughes or Will Rijksen
SevenTwenty Strategies
marichelli.hughes@720strategies.com 
will.rijksen@720strategies.com 
202-715-3906

SOURCE American Association of Nurse Practitioners