FNP as a First Assist?

Is this possible? An FNP also functioning as a First Assist (ex: in an outpatient surgery center)?

Would this not be considered acute care or a role only for an acute care NP?

If an FNP can function as a first assist.. in what setting would this be possible?

Thanks!

Some states, like yours, are much more aggressive at bringing practice in line with the Consensus Model. Others are very lassie-faire and rely on employers and collaborating physicans to sort out the details. This is why it's still best advice to earn the appropriate credentials whether it's required yet or not. 1) We own it to our pts and ourselves to undergo the appropriate training. 2) Providers who don't are putting themselves in a vulnerable position if their state decides to get with it, their employer beefs up their credentialing requirements, or if they end up named in a lawsuit. Nevertheless, some people will have to be dragged into the 21st century kicking and screaming.

I wouldn't say those later states are laissez faire about the consensus model so much as haven't adopted it period. You either adopt it or you don't. Michigan for instance only sees a few classifications. NP, CNM, CRNA, and the recently recognized CNS. They don't go into any weeds and our bon doesn't regulate where specific NPs should or shouldn't work. My employer asked if I'd be willing to see our patients who are admitted and when I suggested it wouldn't be smart, he literally called and verified that he could use an fnp for that role if he so chooses. I still reinforced an unwillingness to work in that role and the issue hasn't been brought back up.

I wouldn't say those later states are laissez faire about the consensus model so much as haven't adopted it period. You either adopt it or you don't. Michigan for instance only sees a few classifications. NP, CNM, CRNA, and the recently recognized CNS. They don't go into any weeds and our bon doesn't regulate where specific NPs should or shouldn't work. My employer asked if I'd be willing to see our patients who are admitted and when I suggested it wouldn't be smart, he literally called and verified that he could use an fnp for that role if he so chooses. I still reinforced an unwillingness to work in that role and the issue hasn't been brought back up.

That's exactly what laissez-faire means: government leaves it to the market (in this case job market) to sort out the details. States like yours are relying on exactly the situation you described. Providers, employers, and collaborating physicians will sort out the details of who is qualified to treat whom. Other states (as a previous poster mentioned) have taken a very active approach which essentially enshrines the Consensus Model in state law. My particular state licenses NPs by specific specialty but doesn't place any explicit limits on their practice in relation to that specialty - so a sort of middle ground.

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