The Effects of State Scope-of-Practice Laws on the Labor Supply of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses

In the United States, healthcare professionals are required to obtain state licenses to certify they provide a consistent level of quality care. Some providers are subject to additional laws that define their scopes of practice. Restrictive forms of these laws pose supply barriers for workers who are highly trained and, relative to physicians, an inexpensive source of care: Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs). For a complete picture of APRN labor supply, we model nurses’ decisions to train and work as an APRN as functions of scope-of-practice laws. We also accommodate for selection bias in determining APRN labor market outcomes. We use data from the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses and state statutes. Preliminary results indicate restrictive scope-of-practice laws reduce the likelihood that an RN receives APRN training. Such laws increase APRN hours worked but decrease the amount of time they spend in patient care. They also constrain interstate mobility.