In my opinion, APRNs must compete with both physicians and physician assistants
within the state and national level due to misconceptions. Many patients are familiar with
nurses delivering care at the bedside and taking orders from the doctor but are not
accustomed to them practicing autonomously. It is for this reason that many patients
choose to see the “real doctor” instead of a nurse practitioner, despite their ability to
provide the very best care. According to Ortiz et al (2018), state practice and licensure
laws limits the setting of one or more elements of APRN practice, and without these
restrictions, APRNs can contribute to reducing the healthcare burden for physicians.
According to Petersen (2017), despite the amount of data and evidence of benefits for
APRNs having full practice authority in all states, Florida remains one of the restrictive
states denying APRNs the right to practice to the full extent of their license. Petersen
(2017) also mentions that APRNs scope of practice is limited when relocating from one
state to another, and this variation in each state’s scope of practice regulations have an
indirect impact on patient care, as the physician’s supervision may affect practice
opportunities and payer polices for APRNs (Yee et al, 2013). According to Petersen
(2017), “Concluding that all doctors are great and all nurses just average is as misguided
as judging someone’s intellect by the college he or she attended” (p. 76; Prasad, 2016)
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