1. For Immediate Release For more information contact:
November 14, 2013 David Williams
512-632-5340
david@texasnp.org
New Mexico Marketing Initiative Highlights the Need for Additional Nurse Practitioner Reforms in Texas
(Austin, Texas) – Responding today to New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez’s advertising campaign to
recruit nurse practitioners to New Mexico from Texas, Michael Hazel, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, president of
the Texas Nurse Practitioners (TNP) Board of Directors, issues the following statement.
“Governor Susana Martinez has proposed a marketing plan designed to attract nurse practitioners
to New Mexico to help deal with the states’ primary care shortage. This plan takes aim directly at
Nurse Practitioners in Texas, capitalizing on the heavy regulatory structure in place. Even with
passage of S.B. 406 and the improvements made in the new law, NPs in Texas are still extremely
limited by unnecessary delegation and supervisory requirements not found in almost every other
state, specifically next-door in New Mexico. Texas will certainly suffer while New Mexico
remedies its primary shortage through the valued hands of our educated nurse practitioners.
Texas currently ranks 47th among 50 states in supply of primary care physicians. With 185
counties (73% of the state) designated as medically underserved, and with the growth of the
state’s population, we will see between 1.5 million and 2 million more low-income Texans eligible
for Medicaid in 2014. The numbers tell the story. We financially cannot afford to lose more nurse
practitioners to other states simply because of our regulations.
Nurse Practitioners increase access to primary care, and lower costs by reducing emergent care.
To keep costs in control, it is an absolute must that we reform our practice authority regulations.
All of the surrounding states have more favorable regulatory environment than Texas. New
Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona, have full practice authority for nurse practitioners, and offer us a
viable proven roadmap that Texas can adopt to attract more nurse practitioners rather than lose
them.
As we close out National Nurse Practitioner Week, I am saddened to realize once again that our
regulations harm our patients and force our providers out of state. If we always do what we’ve
always done, we will always get, what we’ve always gotten. We have to do better.”
Chartered in 1989, the mission of Texas Nurse Practitioners is to “promote the professional excellence of nurse
practitioners, and to support quality healthcare through leadership, education and advocacy.” More than
6500 nurse practitioners across Texas provide invaluable services including performing physical examinations
and evaluations, providing health education, treating common illnesses and helping patients manage chronic
illness.
###