Florida Nurse Practitioners Gain Full Practice Authority

After years of opposition from the Florida Medical Association and seven years of passing in the state House but not in the Senate, the bill to allow Floridian Nurse Practitioners full practice authority has finally been passed. Starting in July 2020, advanced NPs who have accumulated at least 3,000 hours of experience under physician supervision will have the right to independently operate primary care practices in Florida without an attending doctor. To qualify, they will also have to complete minimum graduate level course work in differential diagnosis and pharmacology.

Under the new law, signed on March 11 by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, qualified NPs will be able to independently practice family medicine, general pediatrics and general internal medicine. House Speaker Jose Oliva, who made the bill a priority, praised the bill’s passage, saying, “Freeing (advanced practice registered nurses) of the red tape that has historically stopped them from working to the full extent of their education and training will immediately improve access to quality care for all.”

In a compromise between the Florida House and Senate, while the bill grants full practice authority to advanced NPs, it does not cover physician assistants or certified registered nurse anesthetists. Calling the bill “a good first step,” the Florida Association of Nurse Anesthetists commented, “Although we are disappointed that the legislation did not include certified registered nurse anesthetists … we are pleased that some of Florida’s (advanced practice nurses) will be able to practice autonomously.” The group added, “Passage of this bill demonstrates Florida’s commitment to modernizing the way health care is being delivered in our state by ensuring that Floridians have full access to health care, particularly in rural areas that are often underserved.”

Florida Republican Representative Cary Pigman, a physician who has filed the bill multiple times in the state House, noted, “Beyond the classroom, the data from statewide experiments across the nation demonstrate without a doubt that nurse practitioners are highly skilled, highly trained, and highly eager to care for patients independently.” Pigman added, “Advance practice professionals achieve higher marks in patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, and they spend more time actually talking to patients.” For more details, visit here.

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Koren Thomas

Associate Editor at DailyNurse

Koren Thomas (pictured with Assistant) was the associate editor of DailyNurse from late 2019 through July, 2022—and she was not joking about the "issue postage stamps saluting US nurses" idea. Send your article ideas, submissions, Nurse of the Week suggestions, comments, and corrections to the current Editor in Chief at [email protected].