A new Duke University study finds that easing up regulations on nursing practitioners, already, can put hundreds of millions of dollars to other uses – possibly leading to thousands of new jobs.

Estimates from the study, funded by the N.C. Nurses Association and done by Christopher J. Conover, a research scholar at Duke University’s Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research, show North Carolina could reduce health care spending by $430 million per year and add 3,800 jobs to the economy by the end of the decade simply by expanding the practice abilities of Advance Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs).

“Modernizing APRN regulations has the potential to positively impact health care access, quality, and cost,” Conover said. “It is rare that any policy change offers gains across all three major dimensions of the North Carolina health system’s performance.”

Currently, most APRNs in North Carolina are forced to sign agreements with supervising physicians in order to practice.

True, a nursing special interest funded the study, but it is hardly a stretch of the imagination that some economic benefits, if not the exact number of jobs predicted, will result from allowing advanced practice nurses more freedom. Currently, North Carolina is one of the most restrictive states in the Union in this area.