The addition of compact licensure to the nurse licensure process allows nurses to practice in other compact partner states. In your opinion, would it be beneficial to have national professional practice standards versus state oversight? Why or why not?
I believe the compact licensure has been very helpful. It allows the holder to practice in all participating states in the US. Considering the recent pandemic, nurses were able to move from one locatiion to another to care for severely sick. This i believe was possible because of the compact license to practice.
Having a national professional practice standard or state specific standard has its cons and pros.
The advantage of a federal standard of practice is uniformity in practice and licensure. For instance, in my home country, there is just one board of nursing referred to as the nursing council and they help in maintaining standard of care in all states of the federation as well as issuance of liscenses. Hence, a professional nurse in one state can practice in all the 36 states of the country.
The downside of this system could be delay in processes and procedures such as registration, verification and issuing of liscenses.
Coming to the US, i think having a centralized system might be a bit cumbersome to maintain because of the ever growing population size and changing system in healthcare. Also, it would be easier to manage the ever growing population and nursing practice within the state level.
You bring up a valid point of a national council to regulate the practice. Larger numbers of nurses to oversee would be a challenge. Perhaps the national council could have state committees to oversee the practices using the national standards.
In my country, there is one board of nursing called the ‘Nursing council’, and they help in monitoring the standard of care in all states of the federation. The nursing council will verify where I studied and the state health authority will issue the license to practice nursing in any state. So a professional nurse can practice nursing in all states of the country. The Nursing council will register, verify and issue licenses. And it is renewed every five years. To practice outside the country, a special authorization is required. In the United states, each state allows nursing practice after verifying the nursing certificate and allowing to practice as an RN nurse.
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