Should APNs have hospital admitting privileges? How would admitting privileges affect the role of the APN?
The United States has the big opportunity to transform its health care system. The nurses play a fundamental role in this transformation. More often the advanced practice nurses (APNs) are the focus of a new wave of scope-of-practice bills. New measures are introduced to state lawmakers every year. They address issues like independent practice, doctor supervision of nurses, prescribing authority, or extended prescribing, including of controlled substances (American Medical News, 2008). In October 2010, the Institute of Medicine released a report recommending that states and the federal government remove legal barriers that prevent APNs from practicing to the full extent of their education and training. One of the barriers, that was not mentioned here, was APNs hospital admitting privileges. APNs are playing a great role in addressing access-to-care shortages and are working on the front lines of patient care. Due to health care costs, increased patients acuity and physician shortages APNs should have hospital admitting privileges. Physicians, however, worry patient safety will be compromised if APNs will work outside a physician-led team. They support advances in nursing education but testing and training differences are making them to worry (AMN, 2009). Only nurse doctorates consider themselves primary care practitioners qualified to diagnose and treat patients. But, the good news is, that the American Association of Colleges of Nursing will require more schools to offer a doctorate of nursing program by 2015 (AMN, 2009). This is why I truly believe that APNs will have hospital admitting privileges in the near future.
The need to keep low health care costs created outpatients’ population more acutely ill. It made APNs to be more involved in coordinating