Nurse's Scope Of Practice Analysis

United States Within the United States, nurse’s scope of practice is regulated by each state through the Nurse Practice Act [NPA]. The NPA monitors the rules and practices that nurses must follow based on their licensure, in order to prevent harm to patients. The American Nursing Association [ANA] helps uphold, protect, and maintain the fairness amongst these rules and regulations. The scope of practice for Geriatric NP’s is very critical to the current and future healthcare system because essentially they can deliver just as equal care to the growing older population as physicians. However, because this scope can vary state to state, there are specific practices in which the nurse must follow (Mason, Gardner, Outlaw & O Grady, 2016). Depending

Rural states throughout the country tend to allow for more autonomy and individualized practice. “A higher share of rural NP’s worked in states without physician oversight requirements, had a DEA (drug enforcement administration) number, hospital admitting privileges, and billed using their own provider identifier. Rural NP’s more often reported they were fully using their NP skills, practicing to the fullest extent of the legal scope of practice, satisfied with their work, and planning to stay in their jobs” (Spetz, Skillman & Andrilla, 2016). While the scope of practice in some states is strictly and clearly regulated, some states have an unclear scope (Gadbois, Miller, Tyler & Intrator, 2015). Depending on what state an NP practices in, a minimum level of education will be required. Other factors that vary from state to state include what kind of prescription orders NP’s can make, and how involvement the physician is required to be in the patient care (Gadbois, Miller, Tyler & Intrator, 2015). Although this is true, there is no clear research showing the actual scope amongst NP’s from state to state within the United States (Gadbois, Miller, Tyler & Intrator, 2015). Even if the scope differs between states, all Geriatric NP’s still have great autonomy, and hold high leadership positions within the workplace. Leadership is crucial to

The United States tries to allow as much autonomy as possible for their nurses but, this is not always the case. Policies should be implemented that allow Geriatric NP’s to use the knowledge they have obtained, and treat their patients appropriately, without the supervision of a physician in all healthcare settings. Regarding this problem, laws should be passed that prohibits physicians from overseeing the work and practices of their fellow NP’s. In order to make these changes within their practice and the healthcare setting, NP’s need to take part in governing boards, and politics, which will ultimately help them move towards these necessary changes within the healthcare field (Mason et. al,