In nursing news, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services made a lot of changes this week, including expanding the definition of “medical staff,” to allow professionals including advanced-practice nurses to practice to the full extent of their training and scope without arbitrary federal rules about physician oversight– state laws already govern scope of practice.
This is a coup on behalf of patient care, healthcare systems, and nurses! CMS is explicitly recognizing that health care is changing, and moving away from a model which is entirely physician-driven. We had a pretty long discussion on the issues surrounding advanced practice nurses a while ago. Is this week’s news indicating that the times, they are a changing’?