Call to Action: Please call your House Representatives and your Senator NOW

Dear Colleagues,

UNP is ready to kick off our efforts for your 2021 Full-Practice Authority legislation!

BILL INFORMATION: Again, we are planning to run a bill that will remove the phsyician terminology/language that remains in our Nurse Practice Act which requires a Consultation & Referral (C&R) plan for solo new graduates (less than 1 yr or 2,0000 practice hours) or independently own/operate a pain practice. APRNs with >3 years experience can sign the C&R. The C&R does not provide any oversight of NP practice, safety, guidance, or review. It is simply a piece of paper that goes in your desk file identifying someone who will be available should you have a question about a controlled substance. 

This will be our 3rd attempt in the past 5 years which is frustrating and expensive. We must do this TOGETHER. WE NEED YOUR HELP...YOUR GRASSROOTS EFFORTS ARE THE ONLY WAY WE CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN. 

We do not have a bill number yet. Senator Bramble and Representative Welton (with Dunnigan co-sponsoring) have consented to run our legislation. 

CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS NOW: Your house representatives and your senator (look them up here) must hear from you right now about who you are and what you do, before UMA begins their opposition. Please be positive and passionate because any negatvitity will reflect poorly on APRNs. Thank them for their work. If your legislator has voted against NPs in the past, your story could change their thoughts, but do not disparage UMA or our physician colleagues.

Your legislators want to hear how the C&R affects your practice and if it restricts your business or practice, or is even neccessaray for you to practice. Keep it short but contact them at least twice (face-to-face/zoom is the most effective). Let them know . . .

1. that you are their constituent,

2. that you are an APRN/NP (might need to explain that APRN includes NPs, CRNAs, and CNMs)

3. your level of education (Masters or Doctorate degree),

4. that NPs have an average of 8 years of experience before starting their graduate degree (=22,000+ full-time hours at the bedside BEFORE starting our graduate degrees),

5. that you take care of patients independently (unless a solo practice new grad or own a pain practice),

6. that you are a frontline essential provider,

6. how the C&R might affect someone you know or your own practice (cost for the C&R or what your organization pays a physician to sign your paper, limits ability or desire to open your own practice, inhibits ability to offer resources to patients like opiate treatment or referrals in rurual areas, inhibits insurances from contracting you as a panel provider, etc.),

7. and if they would be willing to consider co-sponsoring our bill with Bramble, Welton and Dunnigan.

Please feel free to email me or the legislative co-chairs with any questions. We will get back to you as soon as possible, or you can review the talking points attached to this announcement. We will be sending out updates and Calls to Action for grassroots rapid response requests as the bill progresses. 

Note* Hyperlinks are in blue

** Please update your contact information/cell number in your unp.org account

Melissa Hinton: president@unp.org

Julie Balk: julieb@unp.org

Lee Moss: lee@unp.org