The varying ability, not only with prescriptive authority, but with the scope of practice and

license requirements puts nurse practitioners in a very strange situation. From state to state the
abilities in practice of a nurse practitioner not only confuses the nurse practitioners themselves but
the physicians they support. In a survey of nurse practitioners from not only the United States but
around the world they complained the most difficult barrier to their practice was the variation in
scope of practice, prescriptive authority and licensure requirements (Kleinpell, 2014). This should
be a easily fixable situation. The need for a nationally recognized standard of practice and
requirement for practice is pressing. The confusion it causes decreases the availability of cost
effective health care to the masses.

Kleinpell, R., Scanlon, A., & Hibbert, D. (2014). Addressing Issues Impacting Advanced Nursing Practice Worldwide. The
Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 19(2). doi: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol19No02Man05