Scope of practice describes the procedures, actions, and processes that a healthcare practitioner is permitted to undertake in keeping with the terms of their professional license. The scope of practice is limited to that which the law allows for specific education and experience, and specific demonstrated competency. Each jurisdiction has laws, licensing bodies, and regulations that describe requirements for education and training, and define scope of practice.
Overview
In most jurisdictions,
health care professions with scope of practice laws and regulations include any profession within health care that requires a license to practice such as
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
s,
physician assistant
A physician assistant or physician associate (PA) is a type of Mid-level practitioner, mid-level health care provider. In North America PAs may diagnose illnesses, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and may serve as a pri ...
s,
nurse
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...
s,
dietitians
A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ca ...
,
respiratory therapist
A respiratory therapist is a specialized healthcare practitioner trained in critical care and cardio-pulmonary medicine in order to work therapeutically with people who have acute critical conditions, cardiac and pulmonary disease. Respirator ...
s,
physical therapists
Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patien ...
,
occupational therapists
Occupational therapists (OTs) are health care professionals specializing in occupational therapy and occupational science. OTs and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use scientific bases and a holistic perspective to promote a person's abili ...
,
pharmacist
A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...
and
dentist
A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...
s among many others.
Governing, licensing, and law enforcement bodies are often at the sub-national (e.g. state or province) level, but federal guidelines / regulations also often exist. For example, in the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the Department of Transportation has a national scope of practice for emergency medical services.
Examples
* Registered respiratory therapist – All states and provinces who recognize registered respiratory therapist licensure allow for RRTs to provide
extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), also known as extracorporeal life support (ECLS), is an extracorporeal technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequat ...
(ECMO) support. Despite this, some institutions do not permit RRTs to provide ECMO support. For the registered respiratory therapists working at the institutions that allow RRTs to provide ECMO support, it is within their scope of practice. The RRTs who are not permitted by their institution to provide this skill are unable to include the support in their scope of practice.
* Paramedic – In some states and provinces a paramedic is allowed to perform
percutaneous {{More citations needed, date=January 2021
In surgery, a percutaneous procedurei.e. Granger et al., 2012 is any medical procedure or method where access to inner organs or other tissue is done via needle-puncture of the skin, rather than by using ...
cricothyrotomy
A cricothyrotomy (also called cricothyroidotomy) is an incision made through the skin and cricothyroid membrane to establish a patent airway during certain life-threatening situations, such as airway obstruction by a foreign body, angioedema, or ...
if all other
airway management
Airway management includes a set of maneuvers and medical procedures performed to prevent and relieve airway obstruction. This ensures an open pathway for gas exchange between a patient's lungs and the atmosphere. This is accomplished by either cl ...
fails. In the states and provinces that do not allow this intervention, it is not within the scope of practice of the paramedic to perform.
Final Draft of the National EMS Scope of Practice Model
September 2005. {{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050307142054/http://www.soundrock.com/sop/index.html , date=March 7, 2005
See also
* Health care professional requisites
References
External links
Emergency Medical Services Division
NHTSA, U.S. Department of Transportation.
Medical regulation
Nursing regulation