New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed legislation making New York the 25th state in the country to grant nurse practitioners (NP) full authority to practice medicine. NPs are now able to evaluate, test, diagnose, and prescribe medications for patients without having to sign a contract with a “supervising physician”. That requirement, which was waived by New York and several other states when the COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed accessibility to medical care, has been made permanent in New York. The American Association of Nurse Practitioners estimates that more than 75% of actively practicing NPs work in the primary care setting. A recent study showed that the number of NPs in the country more than doubled from 2010 to 2017.
