The term “scope of practice” has different definitions in policy and professional documents, which is why it is critical to know how your state’s regulations define the term, says Debra Stinchcomb, RN, CASC, consultant with Progressive Surgical Solutions in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

“The management team of an ASC needs to understand how its state laws define the administrative and clinical scope of practice for circulating RNs, monitoring RNs, licensed practical nurses (LPN)/licensed vocational nurses (LVN) and medical assistants (MA) or nursing assistants (NA),” she says. “The management team also needs to know the clinical and legal ramifications arising from scope of practice issues and identify practical solutions to minimize the risk of adverse clinical and legal outcomes.”