NP learning OMM?

[thenewguy8]

So today I shadowed an amazing DO in NH. She has her own practice and is VERY alternative while also fully working with pharmas and traditional patients.

Anyway, she uses OMM all the time (i saw her adjust the cranial bones of a 3 week old infant with a slightly deformed skull and it was amazing). I got into medicine through Massage Therapy and have always wanted to learn OMM. She said MDs and NPs and PAs can get certified in OMM and even bill for it just like she does. Does anyone know how that happens? where does one go and what does 'certified' mean?

thanks!

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

NPA=Nurse Practice Act

SOP=Scope of Practice

Yes, pretty much you are correct; it's state-based. Not a national protocol/SOP across the board. All individualized.

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Now, in stating the above, many NPA will not specifically address each and every procedure an NP performs.

The NPA may have a section that states something to the effect (like the above poster, juan de la cruz was alluding to), "the nurse practitioner may practice skilled procedures in collaboration with and under the direction of a licensed physician or under the direction of protocols developed with a licensed physician."

Also, some NPA have this addressed in a section as it relates to specialized skills/practices: "In the absence of the availability of a national certification examination in a selected clinical area, the board may establish commensurate requirements."

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Agree with sirI above. Independent practice states such as Arizona, for instance, does not identify all the therapeutic procedures NP's can perform in an independent setting. Their NPA states: "Perform therapeutic procedures that the ®NP is qualified to perform" and goes on further to state: "An ®NP shall only provide health care services within the nurse practitioner's scope of practice for which the ®NP is educationally prepared and for which competency has been established and maintained. Educational preparation means academic coursework or continuing education activities that include both theory and supervised clinical practice".

In the hypothetical situation you cited, the best recourse is to have your training in OMM documented in terms of theory and supervised clinical practice received. There is a chance you can get questioned regarding your preparation on this procedure and the questioning could be instigated by DO's in competing clinical practices around you who advertise a similar service. Obviously, the standard of training is attending a DO program where you spend MS1 to MS2 years on courses involving Osteopathic Principles and Practice. I haven't read a case involving this but I see DO's winning this fight if it does come up.