AAUP-FM member Deb Hopla has been working hard to improve healthcare in our state. As a board member of the Coalition for Access to Healthcare, she has been lobbying for Senate Bill 553, which allows full practice authority (FPA) for Nurse Practitioners and Certified Nurse Midwives. If the policy is adopted, South Carolina would join the other 27 states–plus the VA system, Washington DC, and Guam–that already have instituted FPA.
Hopla received the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) advocacy award this year for her work on behalf of nurse practitioners and their patients.
“Nurse Practitioners are the future to the healthcare crisis,” argues Hopla, “and SC currently has a ranking of 37 out of 50 states for overall healthcare. Unfortunately SC also ranks number 8 in maternal deaths. We must make a change in the way healthcare can be delivered.”
FM faculty members can take action by contacting senators and expressing support for the bill.