Life for Nurse Practitioners in Guam Just Got Even Better

If Surf, Sand and Sun Wasn’t Enough…

As a nurse practitioner, I’ve long fantasized about taking my career somewhere warm and sunny, or just plain different. NPs enjoy the flexibility to practice all over our country and its territories. Some of these locations prove much friendlier than others when it comes to the logistics of employment. Guam has just joined the group of locations that rank most favorable for NPs. 

If you aren’t yet familiar with then ins and outs of nurse practitioner practice, scope of practice laws are sets of regulations that govern how nurse practitioners are allowed to practice and prescribe. Most states require NPs to maintain some form of physician supervision or collaboration in order to practice, prescribe, or both. 

Across the country however, the tide is turning when it comes to scope of practice laws for nurse practitioners. More and more states recognize the value NPs have to offer and are loosening physician oversight restrictions to allow NPs to practice to the full extent of their training, without as much (if any) physician collaboration. Guam is the most recent territory to jump onboard the bandwagon. 

This past week, Guam’s governor, Eddie Calvo, signed legislation retiring the requirement that nurse practitioners practice collaboratively with physicians. Guam joins 22 other states and the District of Columbia in granting nurse practitioners independent practice rights. 

So, if beaches and warm temperatures are calling your name, the added pull of independent practice may be difficult for nurse practitioners craving the island life to resist. 

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