This is a CALL TO ACTION!

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently excluded Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists from a major rule change to grant Full Practice Authority to APRNs at all VA facilities. The push for inclusion is not over, however, as the VA has requested comment for consideration in future amendments.

"The exclusion of CRNAs is very disappointing,” said NCNA Chief Executive Officer Tina Gordon, MPA, CAE, FACHE. “We would have preferred to see all four APRN groups moving in unison, but we are glad to see that the Department of Veterans Affairs is still seeking comment."

The proposal to grant Full Practice Authority to APRNs attracted an extraordinary amount of attention throughout much of 2016. The VA received more than 223,000 comments during the open comment period that ended in July, of which 104,256 were auto-generated from an American Society of Anesthesiologists website and were deemed to be “not substantive in nature and were akin to votes in a ballot box.” Full Practice Authority was extended to Nurse Practitioners, Certified Nurse Midwives, and Clinical Nurse Specialists.

By cutting CRNAs out of the final rule change, the VA essentially acknowledged that the ballot stuffing campaign was successful. That is why it is incredibly important for all nurses to present a united front on this issue. We are asking everyone to submit a comment encouraging the VA to include CRNAs in its final version of the new rule. Share the link with your friends and colleagues, because nurses need all the help we can get.

The comment period ends next Friday, January 13.

Click here to leave a comment now.

Thank you,

Tina Gordon, MPA, CAE, CACHE
NCNA Chief Executive Offer

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