Highly trained nurses in Wisconsin could soon be able to practice on their own outside
the supervision of physicians under a bill gaining support at the state capital.
The Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Modernization Act just had a public hearing before the
Assembly Health Committee, with physician groups formally opposed to the new licensure,
now formally neutral to the bill.
Governor Evers had vetoed the measure twice, but negotiated its terms with Republican
sponsors.
Republican Patrick Testin of Stephen's Point is Senate sponsor of the bill, and he joins
us now.
Thanks very much for being here.
Thanks for having me.
So what would this new Advanced Practice Registered Nurse licensure allow?
So the APR and Modernization Act has been introduced over the course of the last decade
and a half in some form or fashion.
It's taken different approaches and routes, and I've been the co-sponsor of the last
two sessions, but ultimately what this agreed upon bill will do will allow PRS after four
years of experience to practice independently without having to have a collaborative agreement
with a physician.
On top of that, despite the fact that this was vetoed the last two sessions, we've had
very good conversations with various stakeholders along with the governor's office to alleviate
some of the concerns that he had laid out in the previous two sessions with his veto message,
which was the year's training experience.
The second was dealing with title protections, and then third, dealing with pain language,
primarily for our nurse and esthetist who practice in rural areas.
The reason why this bill is so critically needed is we face a significant healthcare
workforce shortage here in state, and our APRNs help fill that void, and by allowing
them to operate the highest level of their scope or practice, it's going to empower providers
to do the jobs that they were trained to do, which is take care of Wisconsin patients.
And while this has taken a long time to get there, I'm relieved that we have an agreement
with the governor, and I am confident that when it reaches his desk, it's going to get
signed into law and this is going to be a step forward in the right direction to empower
our nurses and our APRNs all across the state of Wisconsin.
Great.
What will it mean for areas of the state in high need of healthcare providers?
I think this is going to be huge, especially when you take a look at our critical access
hospitals where oftentimes these hospitals in rural areas, they rely on nurse and esthetist
because oftentimes they don't have an anesthesiologist on site, and on top of that, for communities
where they have a lack of physicians, it's going to allow our APRNs to go into these
underserved areas and provide that first line of care for patients.
And so this is a profession that has seen a tremendous growth in recent years, but yet
we still have vacancies and shortages upwards of 9% to 10% in many of our areas around the
state.
And so this is just one small piece of the puzzle as we work with our colleagues on both
sides of the aisle to address healthcare shortage here in the state, but it's a monumental step
in the right direction.
I'm very pleased that we've been able to get a deal.
I know it's been very at times arduous and seemed like we were never going to get there,
but through hard work and determination, primarily from the nurse organizations that came to
the table and were relentless in their pursuit to get the sun, that we are one step closer
to seeing this bill become law.
What can you tell patients who in coming years might be seen by advanced practice nurses
about whether they are in good hands?
Well, I think the fact that 28 other states have enacted similar legislation, and when
you take a look at the data from other states, the quality of care hasn't diminished.
And in fact, here in the state of Wisconsin, one of the silver linings of the pandemic,
if there was any, was the fact that there were emergency orders put in place that allowed
our APRNs operate the highest level of their scope of practice without a collaborative agreement.
And the good news is that the quality of care did not diminish.
And so we already have a track record through the pandemic at a time when our healthcare
systems were challenged at the highest levels, and they delivered, they provide a great care.
And so I think once we have a few years under our belt, we'll be able to come back to the
table and see what else can be done to empower these providers.
But this is first and foremost a step in the right direction that has taken nearly 13 years
to get across the finish line, and we're almost there.
What will it mean for nurses now to be able to maintain their own practices?
So this was part of the negotiated agreement.
So in the original bills that I had authored the last two sessions, we allowed them to have
independent practice after two years of experience out in the field.
Last session, in a last ditch effort to try and reach a compromise with some of my Democrat
colleagues in the state Senate, as well as the governor's office, we moved to three years.
Most states that have enacted this legislation are around two to three years of training
experience before they can practice independently.
Now, again, as part of the compromise, the governor was very firm that he was at four
years of training experience before they could practice in the timely.
Well, I would have loved to have been at two or three.
We decided, you know, let's get this behind us.
Let's have this fight be settled with and move it forward.
And so we will be at four years.
We will be a bit of an outlier in that regard, but still we are going to allow our APRNs
after four year training experience to operate at the highest level of their scope of practice,
which should be the end goal for all medical providers here in the state of Wisconsin.
Senator Patrick Teston, thanks very much.
Thank you.
A rare bit of compromise and negotiated good news.
So thank you.
Oops, I can't hear you anymore.
I couldn't hear what you just responded, but thank you so much.
Oh, there we go.
Yeah.
All right.
Thanks.
That was great.
I appreciate it.
Oh, thank you.
It just goes to show up.
We roll up our sleeves.
We can get something on get things done here.
I know.
It's great.
Have a good weekend.
You too.
Thanks.