State responses to COVID-19: Potential benefits of continuing full practice authority for primary care nurse practitioners.

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, federal and state governments removed the scope of practice restrictions on nurse practitioners (NPs), allowing them to deliver care to patients without restrictions.PurposeTo support policy makers' efforts to grant full practice authority to NPs beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, this manuscript summarizes the existing evidence on the benefits of permanently removing state-level scope of practice barriers and outline recommendations for policy, practice, and research.MethodsWe have conducted a thorough review of the existing literature.FindingsNP full scope of practice improves access and quality of care and leads to better patient outcomes. It also has the potential to reduce health care cost.DiscussionThe changes to support full practice authority enacted to address COVID-19 are temporary. NP full practice authority could be part of a longer-term plan to address healthcare inequities and deficiencies rather than merely a crisis measure