NUR 740 Discussion 10.1: Scope of Practice and Patient Safety

NUR 740 Discussion 10.1: Scope of Practice and Patient Safety

NUR 740 Discussion 10.1: Scope of Practice and Patient Safety

The following post is a reflection on the American Medical Association’s (AMA) video interview with Michaela Sternstein, JD regarding scope of practice and patient safety. Michaela is the vice president of the AMA’s State Advocacy Resource Center. The interview detailed Michaela’s work in defining scope of practice between physician and non-physician providers. I agree with Michaela’s perspective that clear scope of practice guidelines allow physicians, non-physicians, and the entire healthcare team to work more efficiently together. Michaela mentions the importance for patients to understand the different members that make up their healthcare team. Healthcare encompasses a wide range of professions with varying skill sets. It can be confusing to patients to understand who is responsible for what part of their care. For example, I had a patient referred to our dermatologist by their oncologist for a skin rash. The dermatologist I work with specializes in oncodermatology. The patient was upset when the physician was not also a trained oncologist, even though their oncologist was the one that referred them. The COVID-19 pandemic put a new emphasis on healthcare workers in the media. El-Awaisi et al. (2020) used social media to determine the public perception of members in the healthcare team.

Results found majority (57.9%) of social media users were discouraged with public perceptions focusing on doctors and nurses when other professions, like physician assistants, greatly contribute to patient care (El-Awaisi et al., 2020). Public education and awareness to the different titles and roles in healthcare is the first step to patients becoming familiar with their healthcare team. I disagreed with Michaela’s notion that physician assistants are wasting their time and resources lobbying for a name change. Titles are less important to colleagues in healthcare who already understand the role. However, titles can lead patients to make assumptions regarding a role without any background knowledge on the position. For example, physician assistant (PA) and medical assistant are two similar titles. Physician assistants are non-physician providers with a master’s degree that can diagnose and treat patients. On the other hand, medical assistants have a high school diploma/GED with a 1–2-year program to become certified clinical support staff. Staff in these roles have two different levels of education and responsibility in patient care. The names can be deceiving to people outside of healthcare. The American Academy of Physician Assistants (2021) officially changed their title from physician assistant to physician associate to reflect their role more accurately in healthcare as a non-physician provider. The title change will be an extensive process to implement, but it will be worth it for the PA community to feel comfortable with their title and role.

References

American Academy of Physician Assistants. (2021). Title change. AAPA. https://www.aapa.org/title-change/

El-Awaisi, A., O’Carroll, V., Koraysh, S., Koummich, S., & Huber, M. (2020). Perceptions of who is in the healthcare team? A content analysis of social media posts during COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 34(5), 622–632. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2020.1819779

Stucky, C. H., Brown, W. J., & Stucky, M. G. (2020). COVID 19: An unprecedented opportunity for nurse practitioners to reform healthcare and advocate for permanent full practice authority. Nursing Forum, 56(1), 222–227. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12515