Cicero Institute: Let Nurse Practitioners Do the Work They're Trained to Do

A recent national report from Mercer, a leading workforce analytics firm, warns that the U.S. will face a shortage of more than 100,000 healthcare workers by 2028. This includes growing gaps in primary care providers like Nurse Practitioners (NPs)—even though NPs are one of the fastest-growing parts of the healthcare workforce.

In response, the Cicero Institute, a nonpartisan policy think tank, lays out a clear solution: states must remove outdated barriers that prevent NPs from practicing to the full extent of their training. According to Cicero, these scope-of-practice reforms are among the most effective, no-cost ways to expand healthcare access today.

As Cicero puts it, “This would minimize the scope of practice regulations that serve more to protect the bottom line of certain professions than to serve patients.”

Texas is already feeling the impact of provider shortages, especially in rural and medically underserved areas. According to the Cicero Institute, 224 of Texas’s 254 counties are designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), meaning they lack enough healthcare providers to meet demand. That leaves over 6 million Texans living in areas with critical gaps in access to care. 

Allowing NPs to practice to the full extent of their training—especially in areas with the fewest providers—can help close these gaps immediately, without waiting years to train or recruit more clinicians.

At Texas Nurse Practitioners, we’re on the frontlines of care—often in the communities most affected by these shortages. We see the impact every day. NPs are highly trained, licensed, and ready to meet the growing demand for care. But outdated laws continue to hold us back.

It’s time to modernize Texas healthcare: remove the red tape, empower qualified providers, and ensure every Texan can access the care they need—when and where they need it.