Attorney: Case Impact Limited
Benjamin McMichael, PhD, JD, said the New York case is not surprising as more states across the country are granting nurses more practice autonomy. The current landscape tends to favor the nurses, he said, with about half of states now allowing NPs full practice authority.
“I think the [New York] NPs are correct that they are underpaid,” said McMichael, an associate professor of law and director of the Interdisciplinary Legal Studies Initiative at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. “With that said, the nature of the case does not clearly lend itself to national change.”
The fact that the NP plaintiffs are employed by the state means they are using a specific set of laws to advance their cause, he said. Other NPs in other employment situations may not have access to the same laws.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.