New law to give NY nurse practitioners more freedom from doctors

Nurse practitioners in New York will be able to operate more independently of doctors under a bill slated to become law as part of the state budget enacted this week. The Nurse Practitioners Modernization Act will remove the requirement of a written practice agreement between an experienced nurse practitioner and a doctor as a condition of practice. The law will take effect Jan. 1, 2015. Seventeen other states and Washington, D.C., have already done this. The state Medical Society and doctors groups at the federal level have adamantly opposed efforts to give nurse practitioners more independence.