Explain what Standardized Procedures are, what their function is, and how they are utilized by Nurse Practitioners in California. Discuss how this practice is different if you live in a state (ILLINOIS) other than California.
Length: A minimum of 275 words, not including references
Citations: At least 2 high-level scholarly references in APA from within the last 5 years.
Sample Paper
Standardized Procedures
Every State has unique Standardized procedures that guide the nursing practice. These procedures are set by the state Nursing Board. They refer to documents and procedures that authorize NPs to perform various professional roles regarding patient care (Chambers, 2021). Therefore, they define the NP’s scope of practice. To provide the highest standard of care, these standardized procedures incorporate adaptability to unique patient needs, flexibility to accommodate the rapidly changing health care field, practicability regarding application in diverse settings and specificity, regarding meeting the NP goal of protecting healthcare consumers.
The function of the standardized procedures is to define the scope of practice for NPs and ensure NPs understand their roles and scope of practice, thus ensuring that these professionals meet the legal requirements for the provision of health care. The standard procedures also protect the consumers of nursing services by providing evidence that the nurse meets all requirements to practice safely, thus assuring these consumers of the best healthcare possible. They also promote uniformity in care received from nurses, thus preventing disparities in healthcare (Chambers, 2021). These standardized procedures vary from state to state.
In California, NPs have a restricted practice authority, therefore, need physician oversight for all their scope of practice. However, the state recently passed a law allowing NPs full practice authority after three years of collaborative practice with a registered physician. However, the law will not take effect until January 2023 (Phillips, 2021). Other states like Illinois have less strict laws regulating NP practice. Illinois has a reduced practice authority, and thus although NPs work under a written collaborative agreement with a registered physician, they can perform some of their scope of practice without physician supervision. NPs in this state can diagnose and treat patients but require a physician’s oversight to prescribe medications (Barton et al., 2021). The standardized procedures are different in other states like Colorado, allowing NPs full practice authority. NPs in this state can evaluate, diagnose, treat and prescribe to patients without physician oversight.
References
Barton, M. J., Hannum, B. C., Lindsey, M., & Towle, T. (2021). The Path Toward Full Practice Authority: One State’s Strategy. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 17(2), 147-152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2020.09.011
Chambers, N. (2021). Nurse practitioners in primary care. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315384818/nurse-practitioners-primary-care-naomi-chambers
Phillips, S. J. (2021). 33rd Annual APRN Legislative Update: Unprecedented changes to APRN practice authority in unprecedented times. The Nurse Practitioner, 46(1), 27-55. https://journals.lww.com/tnpj/Fulltext/2021/01000/33rd_Annual_APRN_Legislative_Update__Unprecedent
