The Scope of Practices and Informed Consent for Nurse Practitioner

Nowadays, nurses are indispensable assistants for physicians in performing medicalservices. However, with medical practices becoming increasingly more complex, there aregrowing number of medical practices that do not necessarily need to be practiced by physiciansbut are not suitable for general nurses either. Tobetter handle these practices, many countrieshave developed the system of nurse practitioners (NPs) as a remedy to the issue of physicianshortage. However, despite undeniable improvement, the current laws and regulations in Taiwanthat 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 tothe evolution of laws and regulations regardingNPs’ legal scope of practice, and in doing sopointing out the ambiguous and grey area in the current system. Finally, the article explores theissue of informed consent for the NPs. In particular,could NPs be the ones that carry out theinformed consent process? In what situationscould physicians delegate the duty of acquiringinformed consent to NPs? The article ends with some suggestions for improving laws andregulations on NPs’ scope of practice.
Keywords:The Crime of Practicing Medicine Without License, Nurse Practitioners, NursingPersonnel Act, Informed Consent, Medical Practice, Medical Assistance,Regulations Governing Nurse PractitionersCarrying out Medical Activities Underthe Supervision of a Physicia

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