In October, FNU Associate Professor Vicky Stone-Gale, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP, and her daughter Jennifer Stone, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC became the first APRNs licensed as autonomous advanced practice registered nurses in the state of Florida. They received the good news after a house bill permitting select APRNs to practice in primary care was signed into law by the Florida governor earlier this year. The Autonomous Nurse Practitioner practices in primary care settings permitting the APRN to be independent of physician general supervision to provide care throughout Florida.
“This has been a long time coming for APRNs in Florida,” Dr. Stone-Gale said. “There are many of my Florida colleagues that were alongside me working on these efforts to make this bill pass successfully. It definitely was not a single effort and we still have more work to do for CNMs and other specialties. To be able to pave the way for not only the seasoned APRNs but for all of our younger colleagues to be autonomous moving forward in their careers is amazing. My daughter and I received our DNP together and talked about the day this would happen. Now it is a reality and I am not only proud to share this with her, but am excited for her future as an autonomous APRN.”
Dr. Stone-Gale and Dr. Stone both practice in primary care in Fort Lauderdale. A longtime
nursing advocate, Dr. Stone-Gale is the President of the South Florida Council of Advanced Practice Nurses (SFCAPN). Following in her footsteps, Dr. Stone is the practicum coordinator for the nurse practitioner program at Walden University and serves as the Nominating Committee Chair on the board for the SFCAPN.
