Nurses Hold the Key to Saving Billions — If Policymakers Will Let Them | Opinion

This article was contributed by Sharon Pearce, CRNA,  of The Commission For Nurse Reimbursement

The government shutdown continues, and with it comes renewed debate over waste, spending, and the inefficiencies that plague our healthcare system. But as former Congresswoman Renee Ellmers recently wrote in Nurse.org, there is a billion-dollar solution hiding in plain sight: let nurses practice to the full extent of their education and licensure.

For too long, nursing services have been undervalued, both financially and structurally. We’ve built a system that pays for the hospital room rather than the care provided inside it. The Commission for Nurse Reimbursement (CNR) is pushing to change that by separating nursing costs from the hospital room rate — ensuring we pay for the skilled, clinical care that nurses deliver, not just the square footage around it.

Ellmers’ argument couldn’t come at a more urgent time. Nurses are the connective tissue of healthcare. They coordinate, educate, prevent, and sustain — often without the ability to bill directly for the work that actually keeps patients healthy and out of the hospital. As the shutdown halts progress elsewhere, this conversation should move to the forefront of reform.

We’ve seen what’s possible. During the COVID-19 pandemic, President Donald Trump issued a national emergency declaration under the Stafford Act and the National Emergencies Act. That move triggered regulatory flexibilities through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Dozens of governors followed by suspending supervision requirements, temporarily allowing nurse practitioners, CRNAs, and other advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to work independently.

The results?

• Access expanded.
• Care continued in the most critical conditions.
• Safety was maintained.

By 2021, more than 20 states had granted some form of full practice authority — and several made those changes permanent. Massachusetts, for example, codified nurse practitioner independence into law.

If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that nurses can safely and effectively practice without unnecessary red tape. The precedent is already there — and it happened under a Republican administration that recognized nurses’ critical role in maintaining national health capacity.

So the question becomes: Is there opportunity here?

This administration has already demonstrated that it values nursing’s contribution to care delivery. Ellmers has reignited a conversation that policymakers, regardless of party, should be having:

How can we unlock the full potential of the nursing workforce — not only to save a billion dollars, but to save a healthcare system that is stretched to its limit?

It’s time to stop paying for the room and start paying for the care. Nurses are ready. The question is whether Washington is listening.

🤔Nurses, share your thoughts in the discussion forum below!