ASA has long been the leading medical specialty society in warning of the dangers to the health and safety of patients that may occur when non-physician health care practitioners seek scope-of-practice expansion for which they are ill-prepared by education, training or experience.
For many years, ASA’s warnings seemed to fall upon deaf ears as other specialties thought, “that is your problem.” Fortunately, this appears to no longer be the case, as other specialties, particularly through the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), have become aware that many advanced practice nurses (APNs) in their disciplines are now prepared to seek scope expansion that would allow them to practice independent of physician direction. The problem was brought to the forefront when ASA discovered (and publicized) that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) was considering a mandate that all APN’s within the VHA be designated as independent providers, without regard to the state practice...
