Heath, Victoria - Discussion Post - Scope of Practice The scope of practice within healthcare refers to the actions that healthcare professionals are legally allowed to execute based on their education, training, and licensing (American Medical Association, 2022). Therefore, understanding the scope of practice for various healthcare roles, such as physician assistants (PAs) and pharmacists, emphasizes their overall impact on improving health outcomes. Notably, PAs and pharmacists are vital members of healthcare teams who immensely contribute to the improvement of care outcomes for patients. Under physicians' supervision, PAs complete various medical duties such as handling patient history, completing physical exams, managing diagnostic tests, and prescribing …show more content…
This scope of practice is necessary for managing all patients and improving overall care outcomes, especially in emergencies where adaptive leadership is needed (Albert et al., 2022, p. 272). Secondly, pharmacists are also important in improving patient care by managing medication therapy, counseling their patients, and providing team-based care (American Pharmacists Association, 2023). Their experience with medication is also enormously valuable in handling diseases, where proper medication can highly impact care outcomes (American Pharmacists Association, 2023). By expanding their scope of practice, pharmacists can deliver services that improve care outcomes and reduce medical costs, mirroring the strategic imperative of crisis leadership to create adaptive and responsive healthcare organizations (Albert et al., 2022, p. 272-273). As a whole, PAs and pharmacists are quality examples that illustrate how non-nursing positions can assist with delivering high-quality patient care and proper crisis management in healthcare settings.