While nurses say the proposed legislation could expand access to care and help remedy the state’s physician shortage, physicians contend the bill would put patients’ safety at risk.
“At SCMA, we strongly feel that patient safety comes first and the curriculum of an APRN is not at the level of experience to practice independently,” said Marshall Meadors, MD, immediate past president of the SCMA.
In addition to reducing requirements for physician oversight, the bill would eliminate the maximum number of APRNs that a physician can work with, as well as the mandate that nurses practice within 45 miles of a physician, according to the report. It would also allow APRNs to refer patients to physical therapists, certify patients as handicapped, order hospice and palliative care and pronounce death and sign death certificates.
Judith Thompson, CEO of the South Carolina Nurses Association, said during a Senate Medical Affairs Committee hearing last week that the bill would allow APRNs and certified midwives to practice at the top of their licenses, according to the report.
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