Although the APN-NP license comes with prescriptive authority, nurse practitioners are still mandated to be in career-long collaborative practice agreements with physicians. These agreements will specify nurse practitioners’ limits concerning one or more practice areas, including prescriptive authority.
This limitation is common among states that operate the “Reduced Practice” regulatory structure. This structure prevents nurse practitioners from independently using the tools, skills, and knowledge they’ve amassed through training and experience.
The National Academy of Medicine supports the implementation of the full practice structure in all states as this will help nurse practitioners be more responsible and actively involved in making complex decisions as their training equips them to be. Nurse practitioners are asked to join hands and advocate for all 50 states to adopt the Full Practice structure.