Nurse Practitioner's Business Practice and Legal Guide » (3rd Edition)

Buppert, Carolyn, CRNP, JD

This book focuses specifically and in-depth on the legal and business issues that NPs face, and provides state by state coverage of Nurse Practitioner's scope of practice and state regulations.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Shirley E. Van Zandt, MS, MPH, CRNP(Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing)
Description:This book provides a description of the nurse practitioner (NP) role, variations in practice, and the state and federal regulations governing practice. Reimbursement, practice ownership, quality assurance, and malpractice issues are also discussed.
Purpose:The purpose is to answer many of the legal and business questions NPs and those who deal with NPs have. Because its publication resulted from questions asked about the nurse practitioner, the book fills a need. Though each issue is large and complex on its own, the author is able to set down in appropriate detail answers to these questions.
Audience:As the author states, this book is for practicing NPs, NP students and their professors, and those working with or on behalf of NPs (e.g. attorneys, lawmakers, medical office managers). As a practicing attorney, NP, and consultant to multiple NP organizations around the country, the author is credible.
Features:This book provides under one cover many of the details of the NP role that have been discussed in other publications but never brought together. By providing specific information about individual state regulations and comparing some of the discrepancies in scope, regulation, and trends in NP practice, this book becomes an important reference for NPs. The author provides practical tools such as a basic office practice budget and a sample fact sheet for patients about NPs and offers practical encouragement and insights when asking a hospital about its process for receiving admitting privileges. A well done index helps the reader find specific detail quickly. The simple and academic appearance may belie the depth and readability of this book.
Assessment:This is the first book to combine much of the information on the legal and business aspects of NP practice. It should be extremely useful to those learning about NPs for legal, regulatory, or business reasons, and to NP students as they are learning about their new role.