Representative Tom Brinkman, sponsor of House Bill 177 (HB 177), a bill that will allow Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) unsupervised practice authority, has requested that the House Health Committee vote on HB 177, on Wednesday, November 18. Please contact your state representative immediately and urge a no vote on HB 177.
“As your constituent and as an Ohio family physician, I strongly urge you to oppose HB 177, which would allow APRNs unsupervised practice authority, meaning the ability to practice with no collaboration with a physician on patient care.
HB 177 would negatively impact safe and appropriate patient care by threatening to fundamentally change how physicians and APRNs work together to treat patients. Physicians do not question the need for nurses to be a part of the patient care team, or their ability to play a vital role in it. However, we have concerns about anyone who has not gone through the extensive training and medical education that a physician does playing the role of a physician on that care team.
The education and training of physicians and APRNs are substantially different, meaning that physicians and nurses are not interchangeable. Physicians spend more than 11 years getting our medical training in order to ensure that we are properly trained and educated to diagnose and treat our patients. Many APRNs have less than half the education and training I do, and I am concerned about patient care being provided in the way this legislation proposes with no physician oversight.
APRNs and physicians have skills, knowledge and abilities that are not equivalent, but instead are complementary. The most effective way to maximize the talents of the complementary skill sets of both professionals is to work as a team to care for patients in the physician-led, team-based approach. Additionally, the majority of patients consistently indicate they prefer this model and that their treatment be led by a physician.”