Nurse practitioners Advocate for Modernized Laws

Oklahoma City – Nurse practitioners filled the halls of the State Capitol on Tuesday to urge lawmakers to support the committee substitute for SB 839 by Sen. Jason Smalley. The bill would lift outdated restrictions on the profession and increase access to health care for Oklahomans.

The day of legislative advocacy was organized by the Association of Oklahoma Nurse Practitioners (AONP). 

“Our state is already short of primary care providers, and that will only get worse as today’s medical school students increasingly choose to become specialists,” said AONP President Leah Melton. “Oklahomans need greater access to health care, and nurse practitioners have the education and training to fulfill that need.” 

Oklahoma ranks 45th in physician-to-patient ratio and primary care could become even harder to come by in the future. Only around 20 percent of medical school students are studying primary care, with the rest becoming specialists.

Approximately 90 nurse practitioners attended Tuesday’s event in support of a committee substitute for SB 839. If passed, the bill will do away with the requirement that nurse practitioners with seven or more years of experience have a collaborative agreement with a doctor.

Some nurse practitioners pay thousands of dollars for such agreements with no benefit to patients. Doing away with the requirement will remove a financial barrier to nurse practitioners hoping to open clinics or hire additional staff.

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“Nurse practitioners are already doing this work every day in clinics and hospitals across the state,” Melton said, “but in order to practice, some nurse practitioners have to pay for a collaborative agreement on top of the licensing fees they already pay to the Board of Nursing. Modernizing these laws, as 22 other states have done, is a common-sense step toward improving the health and wellbeing of Oklahomans.”

Tracy Langley, a nurse practitioner from Ada, said it was important to visit the Capitol to meet with lawmakers and express support for the measure.

“It’s difficult for some of us to get a day off of work to visit the Capitol, and many of us are taking vacation time to do it, but this is an important issue that affects every Oklahoman,” Langley said. “Oklahoma is facing a crisis in health care access, and nurse practitioners can address some of those needs. We are looking to the legislature to empower us to do the jobs we’ve spent years preparing for. The health of Oklahomans depends on it.”

SB 839 is currently awaiting a hearing in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.