“While it was never meant to be permanent, the PHE, and its associated waivers, have increased access to high-quality, affordable care across the country to those who needed care the most—our loved ones, friends and neighbors,” ANA President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, RN, said in a May 11 association news release. “For the nursing profession, it allowed advanced practice registered nurses to practice at the fullest extent of their education and clinical training to provide urgent care and treatment to patients and communities. And we have heard from those nurses, who have told us in no uncertain terms how important it is for these waivers to be extended. We cannot take away access to health care that millions of individuals have come to rely on.”
ANA is advocating for legislators and CMS to extend four waivers that were introduced under the PHE:
- Physician Services, which waived requirements that Medicare patients admitted to a hospital be under the care of a physician and allowed APRNs to practice to the top of their licensure.
- Responsibilities of Physicians in Critical Access Hospitals, which allowed certain APRNs to practice to the full extent of their education and training and allowed healthcare systems to provide fuller care with less staff.
- Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers, which waived the physician supervision requirement for nurse practitioners in certain hospitals and health centers to allow flexibility in rural and underserved communities.
- Anesthesia Services, which allowed certified registered nurse anesthetists to practice to the full extent of their license by removing the physician supervision condition.
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