What is the scope of practice of the nurse practitioner as a surgical assistant in Australia?
Discussion around the scope of practice of all nurse practitioners (NPs) in Australia was a component of the recent review of NPs’ eligibility to have broader access to the Medical Benefits Schedule (MBS). This review process has been prolonged and, while the MBS review officially concluded on the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Australian College of Perioperative Nurses
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Perioperative Nursing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journal.acorn.org.au/index.php/jpn/article/view/223 |
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| _version_ | 1849311424786989056 |
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| author | Toni Hains Catherine Smith |
| author_facet | Toni Hains Catherine Smith |
| author_sort | Toni Hains |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Discussion around the scope of practice of all nurse practitioners (NPs) in Australia was a component of the recent review of NPs’ eligibility to have broader access to the Medical Benefits Schedule (MBS). This review process has been prolonged and, while the MBS review officially concluded on the 30 June 2020, no information regarding decisions about expanded NP access to the MBS for patient rebates had been disclosed at the time of publication. It is anticipated that the MBS review will contribute little change to NP access to the MBS.
The MBS is the primary funding process for private-sector medical services in Australia and is a barrier to the scope of practice of Australian NPs. Specifically, in the perioperative setting the lack of access to the ‘assistance at operations’ MBS item numbers limits the NP’s scope of practice as it leaves the private sector surgical patient out-of-pocket when an NP provides surgical assisting services. This discussion paper considers the international non-medical surgical assistant experience and relates this to the Australian context exploring the complexities associated with the term advanced practice nursing, regulation of the NP compared to other clinicians, and the matters of funding and protectionism in the perioperative space.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e9cd3b03d8fb4929864a16abf4c89356 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2209-1084 2209-1092 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Australian College of Perioperative Nurses |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Perioperative Nursing |
| spelling | doaj-art-e9cd3b03d8fb4929864a16abf4c893562025-08-20T03:53:23ZengAustralian College of Perioperative NursesJournal of Perioperative Nursing2209-10842209-10922020-09-0133310.26550/2209-1092.1090What is the scope of practice of the nurse practitioner as a surgical assistant in Australia?Toni HainsCatherine Smith Discussion around the scope of practice of all nurse practitioners (NPs) in Australia was a component of the recent review of NPs’ eligibility to have broader access to the Medical Benefits Schedule (MBS). This review process has been prolonged and, while the MBS review officially concluded on the 30 June 2020, no information regarding decisions about expanded NP access to the MBS for patient rebates had been disclosed at the time of publication. It is anticipated that the MBS review will contribute little change to NP access to the MBS. The MBS is the primary funding process for private-sector medical services in Australia and is a barrier to the scope of practice of Australian NPs. Specifically, in the perioperative setting the lack of access to the ‘assistance at operations’ MBS item numbers limits the NP’s scope of practice as it leaves the private sector surgical patient out-of-pocket when an NP provides surgical assisting services. This discussion paper considers the international non-medical surgical assistant experience and relates this to the Australian context exploring the complexities associated with the term advanced practice nursing, regulation of the NP compared to other clinicians, and the matters of funding and protectionism in the perioperative space. https://journal.acorn.org.au/index.php/jpn/article/view/223nurse practitionernon-medical surgical assistantscope of practiceAustralian health care systemadvanced practice nursinganticompetitive government policy |
| spellingShingle | Toni Hains Catherine Smith What is the scope of practice of the nurse practitioner as a surgical assistant in Australia? Journal of Perioperative Nursing nurse practitioner non-medical surgical assistant scope of practice Australian health care system advanced practice nursing anticompetitive government policy |
| title | What is the scope of practice of the nurse practitioner as a surgical assistant in Australia? |
| title_full | What is the scope of practice of the nurse practitioner as a surgical assistant in Australia? |
| title_fullStr | What is the scope of practice of the nurse practitioner as a surgical assistant in Australia? |
| title_full_unstemmed | What is the scope of practice of the nurse practitioner as a surgical assistant in Australia? |
| title_short | What is the scope of practice of the nurse practitioner as a surgical assistant in Australia? |
| title_sort | what is the scope of practice of the nurse practitioner as a surgical assistant in australia |
| topic | nurse practitioner non-medical surgical assistant scope of practice Australian health care system advanced practice nursing anticompetitive government policy |
| url | https://journal.acorn.org.au/index.php/jpn/article/view/223 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tonihains whatisthescopeofpracticeofthenursepractitionerasasurgicalassistantinaustralia AT catherinesmith whatisthescopeofpracticeofthenursepractitionerasasurgicalassistantinaustralia |