The effect of expansion of nurse practitioner scope of practice on early COVID‐19 deaths

Abstract

Public safety is often used as an argument against expanding scope of practice (SOP) for nurse practitioners, despite the benefit of filling unmet health care demand. As a response to the COVID‐19 Pandemic, some states expanded SOP for nurse practitioners to accommodate the unprecedented healthcare challenge. We analyze the effect of the expansion of SOP on daily COVID‐19‐related mortality, exploiting the quasi‐random state policy changes at the beginning of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Checking different model specifications, we do not find evidence that expanding SOP for nurse practitioners during the pandemic causes adverse effects on patients measured by COVID‐19 mortality.