NP Week President's Message

Happy Nurse Practitioner Week!

Utah's Nurse Practitioners continue to grow in numbers and in strength. As of today, we have 3,309 licensed NP in Utah offering health care services to patients across the state. National Nurse Practitioner Week is held annually to celebrate nurse practitioners as exceptional health care providers and to remind lawmakers of the importance of removing outdated barriers to practice so that nurse practitioners (NPs) will be allowed to practice to the full extent of their experience and education. YOU have been essential to the COVID-19 health care effort and UNP recognizes each of you for continuing to do what you do, day in and day out, showing up every day to keep Utah healthy. Please take a moment to look at the letter of recognition from Speaker Brad Wilson and the 2020 NP Week Proclamation signed by Governor Herbert.

This year has not followed the same patterns as past years in terms of caring for our patients. Likewise, the legislative process and schedule have been unexpected, to say the least. However, starting with the Executive Order and CARES Act that was presented early in the year by President Trump in response to the pandemic, legislative changes have been sweeping in so many aspects. Because of the CARES Act, UNP has been working with our national organization to make sure the CARES Act be implemented in Utah to allow for all NPs to order Home Health care for Medicare and Medicaid patients. We have several agencies that we are working with, including UNA, UAPA, and home health care associations in Utah while UNP, UAPA and UNA have combined forces to increase our education and communication efforts. 

Given the urgent need for good health care providers across the US, changes like being able to permanently order home health for our patients have truly opened doors for nurse practitioners and will have a huge impact on the future of our practice. There is more on the horizon! Of course, UNP continues to work on the scope of practice issues that separate Utah from all of her surrounding states who have Full Practice Authority (FPA). For those of you who have been practicing in Utah for several years, you have no doubt been aware of past legislation that has slowly chipped away at the antiquated rules and regulations that have limited our practice. With the recommendations given at a national level that encourages all states to remove practice barriers that limit our patient care, we continue to press for changes that can modernize our practice to allow each of us to practice to the extent of our education and training, ultimately leading to better patient access to health care providers of their choice and better outcomes. 

As UNP prepares to represent you in the 2021 Legislation Session, we are asking you to personally get to know your legislators in both the House and the Senate. I cannot emphasize the importance of grassroots efforts! A legislator who knows what an NP is will be more likely to support FPA if they know that we can offer patient access and care that will contribute to a healthier Utah and their constituents. Without your communication, we will continue to move at a snail's pace that can result in less effective and timely care for our patients. As we continue to grow as a profession, please consider that as an NP, you are now in a professional and respected position that requires your voice. We do not have the almost 40,000 voices that nurses do in Utah or the 10,000 physicians. We have you. We have your professional communication skills, your relationships with your colleagues, and your patients, your bedside manner that encourages change behavior. I am asking you to apply your skills and reach beyond your comfort zone to help your legislators know who you are and what you do. If you want to be more involved, please contact us. We have several committees that need you! We need memberships to be able to let legislators know that NPs stand together.

Celebrate NP Week by reaching out to your legislators. Celebrate your successes and your necessity in Utah. Tell them what you do. The WHO designated 2020 as The Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. According to WHO, the world needs 9 MILLION more nurses and midwives to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. You are part of that movement. You are making the difference. You are part of something that has strength and power. Thank you!

Melissa J Hinton, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CARN-AP

President Utah Nurse Practitioners