State Rep Update January 2021

Whew, what a year!  The International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, 2020, is and will be unforgettable. Most of us are happy to welcome in 2021 and we look forward to a semi return to normalcy. This week we welcome our 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden.  We also honor the late great Martin Luther King. 

To help keep us mentally boosted, there is very good news out there for NPs.  The US News and World Report have published their 2021 Best Jobs and Nurse Practitioner is #3, behind Physician Assistant (#1) and Software Developer (#2) ranking second in Best Healthcare jobs.  We do have the best job in the world and for many of us, 2020 put us all to the test. https://www.usnews.com/info/blogs/press-room/articles/2021-01-12/us-news-unveils-the-2021-best-jobs

Dr. Loretta Ford, the co-founder of the Nurse Practitioner program, received the Surgeon General Medallion.  This is the highest award given to a civilian by the Public Health Service. She also turned 100 years old December 28th, 2020. She has worked tirelessly for over 50 years since creating our profession, strengthening access to healthcare for all Americans.  We owe her a debt of gratitude.

There are now over 290,000 Nurse Practitioners in the US and we have made over 1 billion visits with patients (2018 data).  We have tremendous influence in our communities, our states and at the federal level.

More good news, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts became the 23rd state to receive Full Practice Authority, a benefit DC has had since the early 1980’s.  Well done MASS for this achievement.

Registration is now open the AANP Virtual Health Policy Conference.  It begins February 25 and you will have access to all the speakers through March 11th.  While there won’t be any lobbying this year, it will be an excellent opportunity to learn about policy and advocating for the NP role. https://www.aanp.org/events

Free!!  CE credit and prescribing education free of charge as a licensed DC provider from DC Center for Rational Prescribing.  This is an often overlooked resource that offers excellent education on a variety of topics.  https://dchealth.dc.gov/dcrx

Don’t forget to keep your AANP membership up to date!  Please take a moment to check your membership status at: https://www.aanp.org/membership

Also if you need to renew your membership for the Nurse Practitioner Association of DC (NPADC) please follow this link:  https://npadc.enpnetwork.com/

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Martin Luther King.