Nurse Practitioners Seek Independence Amid Growing Need for Primary Care
Posted almost 12 years ago by Stanley F Whittaker
By Lynn Graebner
Family nurse practitioner Myra Howard runs the Buellton Medical Center in Buellton, California. She’s also the majority shareholder in the clinic. But the law still requires that her practice is supervised by a physician.
“If my family practice physician decides to leave, I have to close my door and all my services and investment goes away,” Howard said. She and the five physicians she has hired serve an average of 30 patients a day ranging from celebrities to undocumented workers.
Nurse Practitioner Mary Knudtson has a doctorate in nursing science and is executive director of UCSC Student Health Services. She believes that nurse practitioners can provide primary care without a physician’s supervision.
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I left Florida after 20 years of trying to see Independent Practice arrive. Now living and working in Arizona an Independent state I feel the love for my work again. We are highly educated NP's contributing to the business community often. In Florida I had a corporation, paid taxes, employed staff and had my hands tied to practice fully. Now I allow Arizona to have the benefits of these small business successes and feel appreciated. It's not a privilege it is how we have been educated. Sadly, I still believe the issue lies in the paternal role of medicine continuing to exert their falsely perceived ideas that they own medicine, diagnoses and patients. It took D.O's time to achieve their status and NP's share a similar path. Time for all states and state practice acts to change.
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