The American Nurses Association (ANA) continues to advocate on behalf of the nation’s nearly 5 million registered nurses (RNs) to federal policymakers. With a new Congress and Administration comes change and a level of uncertainty. However, our priorities remain centered around the following goals: building and preserving a robust nursing workforce; improving health care outcomes and access; removing practice barriers for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs); shaping payment strategies to account for the direct impact of nursing care; preserving the relationship between nursing and public health; and utilizing health care technology appropriately.
We detailed these priorities and positions in a letter to Congress, sent to both Senate and House leadership. For our regulatory advocacy, ANA’s Policy Team has crafted a priorities document to share with internal and external stakeholders and policymakers.
Building and Preserving a Robust Nursing Workforce
We believe that federal policymakers must take action to address current workforce challenges and ensure the health care workforce is able to meet future challenges by protecting our nurses and creating healthy work environments. We continue to call on Congress to address workplace violence for nurses, as well as limit mandatory overtime. Congress must take action to improve nurse staffing and reduce burnout, such as investing in mental health and substance use dependence support for nurses. Additionally, we encourage HHS to engage with nurses to implement measures that will protect a robust nursing workforce, address the current nursing shortage, and make the workplace safer for nurses.
Ensuring a robust nursing workforce requires new, well-trained nurses. We urge Congress to invest in nursing education to ensure that a new generation of nurses are ready to work in the changing health care landscape. Investments in nursing education and recruitment will attract more nurses, nurse faculty, and nurse preceptors.
Improving Health Care Outcomes and Access
ANA believes that all people in America deserve access to high quality health care and care options. One area where ANA is working to improve health care outcomes and access is in the field of maternal health—working with Congress to enact legislation to expand the perinatal nursing workforce to ensure that women have access to the perinatal care they need and recommending that HHS keep nurses central to addressing maternal health challenges. Additionally, we are currently working with allies in the health care community to defend Medicaid to ensure that our most vulnerable patient populations have access to health care providers, such as trusted nurses.
Removing Practice Barriers for APRNs
We believe that removing practice barriers for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) will promote quality care and help provide proper payment for nurses. We encourage HHS to issue rulemaking to implement provider nondiscrimination protections, while urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to use its administrative authority to remove regulatory barriers to APRN practice in Medicare. Bolstering access to APRNs only serves to increase health care access, especially for our most vulnerable patient populations.
Additionally, we are actively engaging members and other stakeholders to urge Congress to pass the bipartisan Improving Care and Access to Nurses (ICAN) Act to permanently remove longstanding Medicare and Medicaid restrictions that limit Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) from practicing to the full extent of their education and clinical training. By addressing these barriers, the ICAN Act will enhance access to essential health care services, particularly in rural and underserved communities. We encourage our members to take action and show support for the ICAN Act.
Shaping Payment Strategies to Account for the Direct Impacts of Nursing Care
At ANA, we understand just how essential APRNs and RNs are to the provision of patient care and how they deserve fair compensation for the services they provide. We call on HHS to support CMS in taking regulatory and administrative steps to account for nursing care under Medicare and Medicaid payment methodologies and to align reimbursement and quality rewards with the provision of high-value nursing care. Additionally, ANA is ready and willing to engage with Congress on future efforts or roundtables to reform parts of the Medicare payment system.
Preserving the Relationship Between Nursing and Public Health
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how intertwined the fields of nursing and public health are. We stand firm in our position that HHS must continue to promote vaccinations, in order to protect nurses and their patients, as well as to relieve overburdened health systems. ANA knows how important federal medical research and its impacts are for nurses leading research, the provision of health care, and the nursing profession. Additionally, we continue to underscore to HHS the importance of international relationships and partnerships in public health preparedness and have stressed the need to keep federal government public health datasets accessible.
Utilizing Health Care Technology Appropriately
New technologies can be used to improve health care outcomes and access, but they must be used ethically. ANA believes that HHS must investigate how artificial intelligence (AI) can best be used in the medical and health spaces, while underscoring how critical it is that AI should neither substitute licensed practitioners, nor should it be the only diagnostic tool that practitioners use. At the same time, we want to see HHS promote the use of telehealth to increase access to health care, especially to increase access to care in rural areas. Currently, there is a proposed rule on special telehealth registration from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and ANA has advocated for HHS to lead efforts to encourage the DEA to revisit their proposed rule and to issue a new rule that better reflects the needs of APRN practice. Additionally, we are working with allies to advocate for the permanent extension of telehealth flexibilities.
Looking at the Year Ahead
A new Congress and Administration provides ANA with new opportunities and challenges to advance our priorities and to advocate for our members. ANA is ready to work with the 119th Congress on improving health care delivery and advancing the nursing perspective. We will seek common ground with the new Administration, so that we can continue to advance the nursing profession and the wellbeing of America’s nurses. As always, ANA stands ready to respond to emerging policy issues that impact nurses and their patients, while remaining steadfast in our mission to lead the profession to shape the future of nursing and health care.