專科護理師執業範圍與說明義務範圍界限之探討

Nowadays, nurses are indispensable assistants for physicians in performing medical services. However, with medical practices becoming increasingly more complex, there are growing number of medical practices that do not necessarily need to be practiced by physicians but are not suitable for general nurses either. To better handle these practices, many countries have developed the system of nurse practitioners (NPs) as a remedy to the issue of physician shortage. However, despite undeniable improvement, the current laws and regulations in Taiwan that outline NPs’ legal scope of practice remain incomplete and ambiguous.To expose this issue, the article first examines the historical origins of NPs in Taiwan, followed by an introduction to the evolution of laws and regulations regarding NPs’ legal scope of practice, and in doing so pointing out the ambiguous and grey area in the current system. Finally, the article explores the issue of informed consent for the NPs. In particular, could NPs be the ones that carry out the informed consent process? In what situations could physicians delegate the duty of acquiring informed consent to NPs? The article ends with some suggestions for improving laws and regulations on NPs’ scope of practice.