Rodney Cress, Veteran Advocate
♦ A special note from Rodney Cress:
VETERAN ALERT: Do you part to speed up VA wait time. I was contacted today by Jonathan Felts, former Sr. advisor to Gov. McCrory, advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney, and politicial director under President George W. Bush. With his efforts and yours, enough letters to VA Secretary McDonald may change the wait time by allowing Advanced Practice Registered Nurses to see veterans instead of long wait to see VA doctor. Contact Jonathan today at: jfelts@theresultscompany.com I already sent my letter in. Tell them I sent you.
Press Release
Our nation’s veterans deserve quality and timely care, but it is clear that far too many of our nation’s heroes haven’t received the care they’ve earned. Veterans have been suffering on wait lists, as they urgently need medical attention. With over 1,700 facilities where 8.76 million veterans receive care annually, the scale of this problem is enormous. Thankfully, the Veterans’ Health Administration’s (VHA) recent proposal offers a path forward to prevent these delays.
To ensure that our veterans have access to high quality healthcare, the VHA has proposed to update its Nursing Handbook – a framework for VHA healthcare facilities – to authorize Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) to practice to the full scope of their skills and training, and to be recognized as full practice providers.
This update, consistent with the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation,1will ensure that former members of the armed forces have greater access to quality care, employing the more than 5,000 APRNs who are already providing care for our veterans in the VHA system. The Department of Defense currently recognizes APRNs as full practice practitioners.
1 National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, “The future of nursing, leading change, advancing health. Report recommendations,” 2011. http://www.iom.edu/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing/Future%20of%20Nursing%202010%20Recommendations.pdf
2 G. Oliver et al, “Impact of Nurse Practitioners On Health Outcomes of Medicare and Medicaid Patients.” Nursing Outlook. 2014; 29: 1 -8.
3 B. Dulisse and J. Cromwell, “No Harm Found When Nurse Anesthetists Work Without Physician Supervision.” Health Affairs. 2010; 29: 1469-1475
• Improving access: Expanding the pool of full practice providers to include APRNs should be part of the solution to improving care for our veterans and alleviating the serious delays that have become the status quo. • Providing excellent care: The quality of APRN services has been recognized by the VHA and underscored by scientific studies.12 These studies have proven consistently that the care provided by APRNs is equal to that of their physician counterparts.
• Offering highly educated, trained professionals: APRNs are registered nurses with advanced education and clinical expertise in order to provide health l care for diverse populations in a variety of settings. A graduate degree is required for their practice.
• Repairing a damaged system: A recent Institute of Medicine report, titled “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health,” recommended that APRNs should be able to practice to the full extent of their education and training.3 This VHA proposal will increase access to care and facilitate repair of a damaged system.
Fulfilling this recommendation would help ensure patient access to care, promote patient safety, and support prompt healthcare delivery, all of which are major priorities of the VHA. Through expanded use of APRNs, patients can either be receiving their needed treatment faster or be directed to a specialist more efficiently.
Contact the Veterans Health Administration today to support recognizing APRNs as full practice providers, to prevent further delays in veterans receiving quality care.
