By  Michael  Hazel,  DNP,  APRN,  FNP-­‐BC,  President,  Texas  Nurse Practitioners

This  week  is  National  Nurse  Practitioner  (NP)  Week  and  time  to  celebrate  a valuable,  yet  underutilized   healthcare  provider.

In  Texas,  there  are  roughly  13,000  highly  educated,  seasoned  NP  professionals.  We are  first  and   foremost  registered  nurses  with  between  600  and  750  clinical  hours at  the  undergraduate  level.  Before becoming  an  NP,  we  average  at  least  10  years of  on-­‐the-­‐job  registered  nursing  experience  in  diverse   settings.    We  have  either a master’s  or  doctoral  degree  –  sometimes  both  -­‐  which  require  an  additional   500 to  1,000  hours  of  clinical  training.

NPs  are  required  to  meet  state  licensure  and  national  certification  requirements.   We  aren’t  doctors  and   we  don’t  want  to  be  but  our  record  of  providing  patient-­‐centered,  holistic  care  is  exceptional  and  has   been  recognized  repeatedly throughout  the  past  45  years  in  peer-­‐reviewed  research.

Despite  improvements  made  in  2013  to  statutes  regulating  NPs,  Texas unnecessarily remains  one  of  the   most  restrictive  states  for  NP  practice.    Texas  still  requires  an NP  to  find  a  physician  willing  to  delegate   authority  to  diagnose  and  prescribe  and mandates  that  the  two  providers  meet  face-­‐to-­‐face  on  a   monthly  basis.    These barriers  are  costly  and  in  place  only  to  discourage  NPs  from  opening  private clinics and  competing  with  doctors.    In  fact,  these  barriers  only  drive  up  patient  costs and limits  access  to  care,   often  forcing  patients  to  turn  to  the  ER  for  basic  primary care  services.

Many  states  like  New  Mexico,  Colorado  and,  Arizona  don’t  have  these  overly restrictive  regulations.    In   fact,  Governor  Susanna  Martinez  and  the  New  Mexico state  legislature  actually  put  together  a  plan  and   appropriated  taxpayer  funds  to recruit  NPs  specifically  from  Texas.    And  you  know  what?    It’s  working.     NPs from El  Paso  and  in  the  South  Plains  are  headed  to  these  friendlier  states  to  help  to close  their   primary  care  shortfall  and  to  be  treated  like  the  professionals  they  are. What  a  loss  for  Texas.

I  am  proud  to  call  Texas  my  home.  My  goal  is  not  to  be  a  doctor  but  to  practice to  the  fullest  extent  that   my  education  and  certification  will  allow  in  order  to positively  impact  the  lives  of  my  patients.

To  celebrate  NP  Week,  I  am  calling  my  state  legislators  and  asking  that  Texas finally  move  to  fully   modernize  NP  regulations.    I  am  armed  with  research  from The  Institute  of  Medicine,  AARP,  the  National   Governor’s  Association,  and  the Federal  Trade  Commission  that  fully  support  my  request.    It’s  time  we   brought simple  economic  principles  into  the  medical  marketplace  and  let  patients  have more  choices   and  more  freedoms  in  how  they  want  to  be  treated.

Amal Dweib

Arab World Social Innovator - Palestine

Revolutionizing the nature of holistic care in Palestine

Amal Dweib, through her organization, the Al Sadeel Society for Palliative Care for Cancer and Chronic Diseases, seeks to revolutionize the nature of holistic cancer treatment in Palestine. Amal works to integrate palliative care with more traditional curative care by working with family members, care givers, and health care providers to create a more comprehensive cancer treatment plan to improve patients’ lives.

Al Sadeel, founded by Amal in 2008, is the first and only registered palliative care organization in Palestine. Al Sadeel works on three different levels: patient/family support and education, professional education and training, and public awareness. On an individual basis, Al Sadeel provides counseling and education services for those suffering from cancer, working with all invested partners to improve the patient’s well being. By training West Bank health care professionals in the methods of palliative care, Al Sadeel ensures a long term impact within the Palestinian medical field. Concurrently, Al Sadeel works with women’s community organizations to promote cancer awareness with a focus on early detection, treatment options, and knowledge of other relevant chronic diseases.

Amal’s ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life for Palestinians living with cancer by providing a new range of services which focus equally on the patient’s physical, social, spiritual, and psychological state.