California, Virginia Take Different Tacks On Restrictions On Nurse Practitioners During COVID-19 Pandemic
- April 20, 2020
STAT (4/17, Bluth) reported that as the demand for health care workers “surges with the coronavirus case count, many states are rushing to lift restrictions on nurse practitioners, who provide much of the same care as doctors do.” But California “allows nurse practitioners to work only under the supervision of a doctor, and most limitations on their practice are likely to hold.” Although “easing restrictions is a simple regulatory matter elsewhere, such proposals in California are dragged down by decades of contentious political fighting – and the state’s powerful doctors’ lobby argues that California already has enough providers.”
Meanwhile, Bloomberg Law (4/17, Ballard, Subscription Publication) reported behind a paywall that Virginia “is loosening more of its licensing restrictions to boost its health-care workforce during the coronavirus pandemic.” Gov. Ralph Northam (D) “issued a new executive order Friday that adds doctors’ offices and group homes to the list of health-care facilities that may use out-of-state licensees to provide care.” The new order “permits nurse practitioners with two or more years of experience to work without an agreement with a supervising physician,” among other provisions.