Kansas Update

Greetings: The following is a reprint of an email received from AANP from author Micelle Knowles, APRN, Kansas Representative.

Hi Kansas Colleagues,

I can't believe that summer is over, schools are starting back up and fall is right around the corner. Things are gearing up again at AANP. The AANP National Conference in New Orleans was informative and energizing. I do want to congratulate Shirley Dinkel for her induction as a 2015 AANP Fellow. Jennifer Rogers from Wichita was the recipient of the 2015 Nurse Practitioner Award and Cynthia Teel from KU School of Nursing was the recipient of the 2015 Nurse Practitioner Advocate Award. Please congratulate all of the winners when you see them. It is time now to start thinking about whom you would like to nominate for the 2016 NP and NP advocate awards. The nomination form is easy and the deadline is October 9, 2015.

In Kansas, there is never a dull moment. In July, there was a Board of Healing Arts meeting addressing APRNs. Several concerned APRNs went to the meeting. The Board of Nursing was also in attendance. The meeting focused on the BOHA short summaries of each bill that is still "alive" and then a discussion regarding the idea of joint regulation between the BOHA and the BON. We were allowed to sit at the table and allowed to speak. The APRNs in attendance voiced our concerns about how joint regulation doesn't work and adds more regulation and possible restriction of the APRN practice. We discussed the problems with the current collaborative agreement requirement and how Full Practice Authority is working well in 21 other states. The BOHA kept referring to our practice as independent practice and that we were practicing medicine. We discussed how medicine doesn't "own" healthcare and if it is taught in advanced nursing programs then it is not solely medicine. We overlap in many different areas, just as other professions overlap. Look at PT and wound care. The meeting ended with the BOHA wanting to have any further discussions with the appointed APRN group that the BON creates, if they have further discussions (meaning not the public members who were at the meeting). The BOHA was planning to take the issue to their next board meeting and decide if they wanted to continue this idea of joint regulation proposed by the KMS bill. The BON doesn't meet till Sept so stay tuned for more later.

Currently the need is for all of our 700+ Kansas AANP members and your colleagues to continue to talk to legislators, physicians, hospital administrators and patients about the need for Full Practice Authority (FPA) in Kansas. Since Nebraska passed FPA, we will likely lose APRNs to Nebraska or have Kansas APRNs have dual licensure with Nebraska. Colorado just passed a bill to shorten the time that new graduates spend in Transition to Practice requirements and authorize an APRN to serve as a collaborator to new graduates, so we may lose more of our APRNs to Colorado. We are already losing some to New Mexico where the state has had FPA for 20 years and are actively recruiting APRNs to their state.

Efforts to expand grassroots engagement in Kansas continue to develop. The "Adopt a Legislator" effort is building. Basically, you meet with your legislators, get to know them and share your concerns about access to healthcare in Kansas and become their resource for health issues. The APRN Taskforce, a network of AANP NP Organization members, is available for added coordination and to support you in these activities. As Tay Kopanos, AANP State Government Affairs VP said, "Health policy is a team sport and we need everyone participating. Our members have firsthand experience of how outdated policy is interfering with timely patient care".

I would like to encourage all Kansas APRNs to make sure you are signed up with K-Traks to help track opioid use in your patients. I find it is very handy and full of surprises on patients that you wouldn't suspect of getting narcotics from different providers. We all need to do our part to bring the narcotic use down. It also looks really good to legislators when they find out we have a large # of APRNs using the site to help in safe narcotic use.

The APRN Task force will be transitioning into some type of Kansas Coalition of APRNs this fall – I don't know the exact name yet. The Task force has been in place about 6 years and needs to change into a more permanent organization so Kansas can keep moving forward.

I will try and keep you informed as we go into fall and winter. Let me know how I can help you.

Michelle Knowles, APRN
AANP Kansas Rep