It Has Finally Happened! Utah has NO restrictions to practice and is going FPA with AANP!

As of this evening around 6 pm, the Utah Nurse Practitioners SB 36 (substitute 5) officially passed! It has been a long, hard-won battle. We know that YOU made the difference. We had perhaps hundreds of NPs reach out to their legislators within the past week and particularly in the past few days. YOU were heard.

UNPs legislation 2023 was a redaction of Section 803 of the Nurse Practice Act which carved out a small subsection of new nurse practitioners.

Because of the language, Utah was kept from joining 26 states including most of the western United States from designation as a Full Practice Authority with AANP. Our language clean-up started in the Senate Business and Labor Committee (a bill's primary sponsor will determine where the bill starts) with a favorable recommendation and quickly won the vote on the floor. In the past 2 weeks, we presented testimony in the House Health and Human Services Committee (it is unusual to start in one committee and be moved to another in the other branch), trying to win substitute 5 that kept the language redactions we needed for full and unrestricted practice for NPs, including new-grad students. There ended being EIGHT substitutes, 2 of which were submitted by 2 physicians during the HHS Committee hearing and both of which were defeated due to tie votes. After a jaw-dropping twist of events, substitute 5 passed out of the committee with a recommendation to move to the House floor for vote at the end of last week.  If you have been on the edge of your seat waiting to hear the outcome, wait no more...we passed the floor vote TODAY as well as passing Concurrence in the Senate. This means that UTAH NO LONGER HAS ANY RESTRICTIONS TO PRACTICE! None. Not even a little bit. This whole post should be repeating exclamation marks!!!!!

UNP enthusiastically thanks Senator Curt Bramble and Representative Maloy for sponsoring our language redaction. A BIG SHOUT OUT to AARP's Danny Harris and to Libertas for their testimony in favor of our effort. UNP specifically recognizes Renae Cowley with Foxley and Pignanelli for her endless hours that resulted in our win. She is a true champion for our profession despite the years of opposition we have faced. Thank you, Renae!!!

Now what?!?!? Well, we are waiting for the Speaker of the House's signature and for the Governor to sign the bill which included several other health professions' licensure updates. We have made significant strides in working with our CNM, PMHNP, and CRNA colleagues and hope to be able to support them  in their legislation in years to come. But by the time we all meet at the AANP National Convention in New Orleans this June, we will officially be a completely GREEN STATE! We would love to have you come celebrate with us at our Annual Pharmacology Conference in Park City, April 21-22, 2023!

I am including the language that was redacted at the very end of the Utah Nurse Practice Act below for your review.

With excitement and relief (as well as a lot of PEPCID),

Your UNP Legislative Co-Chairs and Committee

Lee Moss, DNP, Legislative Co-Chair and Melissa J Hinton, DNP, Legislative Co-Chair

Julie Balk DNP, Beth Luthy DNP, Wendy Rusin APRN, Jen Clifton DNP, Tom Rowley, DNP, Courtney Taylor DNP, Kimberlee Bayless DNP, Amy Bleak DNP, Janet Crawford DNP, Gary Godfrey APRN, Jessica Lewis-Caporal DNP, Diane Chapman DNP, Emily Alston DNP, Ellen Rivers DNP, Trisha Espinal APRN Student, and Megan Kimberly DNP FNP/CNM. Thanks to Jeff Busjahn and Mark Steinagel, the U of U, BYU, Westminster, and Weber State as well as ANNP, UNA and the NCSBN.

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58-31b-803. Advanced practice registered nurse prescriptive authority.
1479          (1) Except as provided in Subsection (2), a licensed advanced practice registered nurse
1480     may prescribe or administer a Schedule II controlled substance.
1481          (2) This section does not apply to an advanced practice registered nurse specializing as
1482     a certified registered nurse anesthetist under Subsection 58-31b-102(11)(d).

1483          [(2) Except as provided in Subsection (3), an advanced practice registered nurse may
1484     prescribe or administer a Schedule II controlled substance.]
1485          [(3) An advanced practice registered nurse described in Subsection (4) may not
1486     prescribe or administer a Schedule II controlled substance unless the advanced practice
1487     registered nurse:]
1488          [(a) receives a board certification from a nationally recognized organization;]
1489          [(b) completes at least 30 hours of instruction, or the equivalent number of credit
1490     hours, pertaining to advanced pharmacology during a graduate education program;]
1491          [(c) when obtaining licensure with the division, demonstrates completion of at least
1492     seven hours of continuing education pertaining to prescribing opioids; and]
1493          [(d) participates in a prescribing mentorship under which the advanced practice
1494     registered nurse:]
1495          [(i) is mentored by:]
1496          [(A) a physician licensed in accordance with this title; or]
1497          [(B) an advance practice registered nurse who has been licensed at least three years;
1498     and]
1499          [(ii) periodically provides the mentor described in Subsection (3)(d)(i) timesheets that,
1500     in total, demonstrate 1,000 hours of clinical experience.]
1501          [(4) Subsection (3) applies to an advanced practice registered nurse who:]
1502          [(a) is engaged in independent solo practice; and]
1503          [(b) (i) has been licensed as an advanced practic

e registered nurse for less than one
1504     year; or]
1505          [(ii) has less than 2,000 hours of experience practicing as a licensed advanced practice
1506     registered nurse.]