Nurse Practitioner Scope-of-Practice Laws and Opioid Prescribing.

ABSTRACT: Policy Points The increased use of nurse practitioners represents a viable policy option to address continuing access-to-care deficiencies across the United States, but state scope-of-practice laws limit the ability of nurse practitioners to deliver health care. Groups in favor of restrictive scope-of-practice laws have argued that relaxing these laws will lead to increases in opioid prescriptions during an already severe opioid crisis, implicating patient safety concerns. An examination of a data set of 1.5 billion opioid prescriptions demonstrates that relaxing nurse practitioner scope-of-practice laws generally reduces opioid prescriptions. This evidence supports eliminating restrictive scope-of-practice laws that currently govern nurse practitioners in many states.

Context

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SUBMITTER: McMichael BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8452368 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature