Illinois lawmakers thwart bid to expand nurse, dentist roles

Nurses, dentists and psychologists asked the Illinois Legislature this spring for more authority to make medical decisions with demand expected to surge under the federal health care law, but each time lawmakers sided with doctors and turned them down.

At issue is how best to address a growing shortage of medical services in rural and low-income urban neighborhoods across the state. Nurses and other medical providers have argued they could help ease the burden if given more control, but the Illinois Medical Society, representing the state’s physicians, has lobbied to defeat or gut several proposals.

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch