NPO engages with members of the Oregon Legislature, the Oregon State Board of Nursing, and other regulatory bodies to address issues that impact your practice, like licensure, access to care, patient safety and reimbursement.
ONA Government Relations staff and volunteers advocate for the best working conditions for our members and the very best health care for our patients. As leaders and members, we connect with community
partners, elected officials and other health care organizations so together we can address needs and create policy and systems that make a difference across the state.
Advocacy work in Salem and during elections helps us achieve our policy goals and improve Oregon’s nurses’ ability to provide high-quality, highly-skilled professional care.
Advocacy and Legislation News
Get Involved!
There are many different ways to get involved to help affect change in legislative or practice policy from local to statewide levels. These are just a few of them many ways to advocate for nurse practitioners:
- Join the NPO Health Policy Committee
- Join the ONA Cabinet on Health Policy or Political Action Committees
- Testify or comment on legislation
- Comment on potential policy or rule changes from OSBN or state statutes
- Serve on local boards or work groups (impacting local policy can make a big difference in moving statewide policy)
- Connect with colleagues to discuss practice issues
If you want to learn more about any of these opportunities to get involved, please email NPO at NPO@OregonRN.org
NPO Health Policy Committee
The purpose of the NPO Health Policy Committee is to:
- Evaluate current and proposed legislation relating to nurse practitioners and health care in order to determine and recommend a course of action consistent with the goals and resources of Nurse Practitioners of Oregon.
- Identify, recommend, and propose federal, state, and local legislative action.
- Devise methods for effective legislative action.
- Maintain liaison with ONA's Cabinet on Health Policy and ONA's Lobbyist.
If you want to learn more or be a part of the NPO Health Policy Committee, email us at NPO@OregonRN.org.
Historic Accomplishments for Oregon’s Nurse Practitioners
- 1975: Establishment of Nurse Practitioners in the State of Oregon
- 1977: Oregon’s nurse practitioners (NPs) established a special interest group within ONA. Over time, this designation has changed to become Nurse Practitioners of Oregon (NPO)
- 1979: NP prescriptive privileges in the State of Oregon
- 1985: Governing body changes from the Board of Medical Examiners to the Oregon State Board of Nursing
- 1990: Workers Comp care
- 1991: NPs reimbursed for Medicare/Medicaid care
- 1992: NPs able to provide Oregon Department of Transportation employee physicals
- 1993: NPs able to provide Department of Motor Vehicle employee physicals, special education student exams
- 1993: Abolished Prescriptive Council; maintained formulary
- 1998: NPs get schedule 2 privileges
- 2001: NPs authority to sign death certificates and admit to Home Health care
- 2002: NPs given electronic prescription transmission privileges Omnibus Bill: cleaned up State statues to now say "physician and NP”
- 2008: Formulary abolished
- 2009: Oregon Health Fund Board recommendations for integrated health home continue to support a range of providers including NPs
- 2010: Activates to allow NPs to delegate dispensing in health care setting
- In
2013, ONA helped pass HB 2902, the first law in the U.S. to require
insurance companies to reimburse NPs at the same rate as physicians when
providing the same primary care or mental care service
-
2021: NPs allowed to list of providers able to authorize medical marijuana
Click here to view past legislation
