AMA vs AANP

Instead of focusing on the covid pandemic, the American Medical Association (AMA) has been advocating for #StopScopeCreep. The AMA has been calling for limits on the autonomy of NPs and PAs, and for years has been working against legislation that allows NPs to practice independently. Their argument is that Nurse Practitioners do not have adequate training to work independently. They support this by saying Nurse Practitioners have less clinical hours during graduate school than physicians have during their training and residency.

I think the AMA forgets that most NPs have experience as nurses prior to practicing as an NP. Our first 1-2 years working as an NP is technically a residency as we adjust from being in the classroom to implementing what we have learned. In addition, most independent practice states only allow nurse practitioners to become autonomous providers once they have several years of experience under a supervising physician.

It is disappointing that the AMA is using this challenging time to blast social media with misinformation about other healthcare professionals. I am not sure why they are so threatened by nurse practitioners. Physicians will always be the expert in medicine, and nurse practitioners are filling in gaps in the healthcare system.

I was happy to see the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) publicly defend nurse practitioners and asked the AMA to discontinue the #StopScopeCreep campaign. If you aren’t already, try to support the AANP by becoming a member. We need to unite as nurse practitioners to prevent the AMA from continuing to dispraise us.

For more information, click the link below to read the statement from the AANP in response to the #StopScopeCreep campaign.

Joint Statement on the Scope of Nurse Practitioners