A bill to create a new license allowing nurses to write prescriptions and treat patients without a doctor’s oversight cleared the state Legislature Thursday, but a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers says he will veto the bill.
Current state rules require people certified as advanced practice registered nurses, or APRNs, to have documented oversight agreements with physicians or dentists when treating patients. Nursing associations, tribal governments and insurance companies want to lift that requirement, which would allow some of those APRNs to create independent clinics. The Wisconsin Nurses Association says around 8,000 nurses in the state would qualify for the new licenses.
During an Assembly debate Thursday on the GOP bill to create the new license, Republicans talked about a lack of available physicians in rural areas of the state and called the oversight agreement requirement an unnecessary regulation that costs nurses money.
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