Election results promising for nurse practitioners

The general election foreshadowed good things to come for nurse practitioners across the state. Tuesday saw the election of one nurse practitioner to the legislature, along with a number of other candidates who are supportive of full practice authority.

Cynthia Roe, a nurse practitioner from Lindsay, OK, won her race for House District 42. Because of her support for full practice authority, the Oklahoma State Medical Association spent nearly $8,000 against her in the closing days of the race. The anesthesiologists’ political action committee donated $2,000 to her opponent in the course of the campaign.

AONP volunteers knocked doors for Cynthia in Pauls Valley the Saturday prior to Election Day.  Voters saw through the misinformation that was being spread, and she won her race handedly.

Across Oklahoma, candidates who are favorable to full practice authority won. They won in metro districts and in small towns. They are Republicans and they are Democrats.

NPs spent a lot of time this fall talking to candidates and making the case for full practice authority. We’ve worked hard, and now the makeup of the new legislature gives us an excellent opportunity heading into 2019.

That’s no reason to be complacent, though. With the elections behind us, the work of AONP and nurse practitioners across the state turns to the legislative session that starts in February.

Talk to your legislators about nurse practitioners and full practice authority. Brand new legislators may not be familiar with the issue, so it’s our job to educate them. We’ve got a toolkit on our website to help you get started.

Once you talk to them, let us know how it went. Email benny@npofoklahoma.com and we’ll keep a tally of who supports us and who needs more information. 2019 can be our year, but we’ve got a lot of work to do to get our legislation passed into law.