Background : The role of nurse practitioners (NPs) is always expanding. The Japanese Nurse Practitioner (JNP) system was initiated in 2015 with the goal of shifting some aspects of doctors' work to various other healthcare professionals including nurses. Depending on the way in which JNPs fulfill their roles, a certain degree of efficacy has been exemplified with regard to patients and facility users. NPs are considered legally liable for their medical practice, because they ultimately perform that practice on behalf of a doctor; however, there is a degree of ambiguity in real life. It is necessary to clarify NPs' legal liability, to ensure the safety of medical practice and protect them in medical procedures performed on behalf of physicians. This study aimed to clarify how JNPs fulfill their own legal liability in medical practice.
Methods : A qualitative, inductive research design was adopted to record participants’ opinions. The survey was conducted from October 2017 to February 2018. The participants were nurses working as JNPs at general hospitals in eastern Japan. We recruited participants via snowball sampling.
Results : With regard to JNPs’ legal liability in their medical practice, three scopes of understanding were observed: “identify whether the JNP has the ability to perform the assigned medical procedure,” “anxiety when performing medical procedures in place of a doctor,” and “follow up medical practice through to the end.”
Conclusions : We demonstrated that JNPs fulfilled their own legal liability in medical practice. They were legally responsible for the implementation of medical procedures and had to protect themselves, as their legal position was ambiguous. Moreover, even if JNPs performed legally ambiguous medical procedures, they fulfilled their responsibility as JNP through their actions. Furthermore, JNPs accepted that diagnosis and prescribing could be performed on behalf of doctors if trusting relationships were established with doctors.
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On 09 Jul, 2020
On 01 Jul, 2020
Received 27 May, 2020
On 25 May, 2020
On 20 May, 2020
Invitations sent on 20 May, 2020
On 19 May, 2020
On 14 May, 2020
Posted 05 Dec, 2019
On 17 Feb, 2020
Received 13 Feb, 2020
On 29 Jan, 2020
Received 20 Dec, 2019
On 13 Dec, 2019
Invitations sent on 08 Dec, 2019
On 29 Nov, 2019
On 28 Nov, 2019
On 28 Nov, 2019
On 14 Aug, 2019
On 09 Jul, 2020
On 01 Jul, 2020
Received 27 May, 2020
On 25 May, 2020
On 20 May, 2020
Invitations sent on 20 May, 2020
On 19 May, 2020
On 14 May, 2020
Posted 05 Dec, 2019
On 17 Feb, 2020
Received 13 Feb, 2020
On 29 Jan, 2020
Received 20 Dec, 2019
On 13 Dec, 2019
Invitations sent on 08 Dec, 2019
On 29 Nov, 2019
On 28 Nov, 2019
On 28 Nov, 2019
On 14 Aug, 2019
Background : The role of nurse practitioners (NPs) is always expanding. The Japanese Nurse Practitioner (JNP) system was initiated in 2015 with the goal of shifting some aspects of doctors' work to various other healthcare professionals including nurses. Depending on the way in which JNPs fulfill their roles, a certain degree of efficacy has been exemplified with regard to patients and facility users. NPs are considered legally liable for their medical practice, because they ultimately perform that practice on behalf of a doctor; however, there is a degree of ambiguity in real life. It is necessary to clarify NPs' legal liability, to ensure the safety of medical practice and protect them in medical procedures performed on behalf of physicians. This study aimed to clarify how JNPs fulfill their own legal liability in medical practice.
Methods : A qualitative, inductive research design was adopted to record participants’ opinions. The survey was conducted from October 2017 to February 2018. The participants were nurses working as JNPs at general hospitals in eastern Japan. We recruited participants via snowball sampling.
Results : With regard to JNPs’ legal liability in their medical practice, three scopes of understanding were observed: “identify whether the JNP has the ability to perform the assigned medical procedure,” “anxiety when performing medical procedures in place of a doctor,” and “follow up medical practice through to the end.”
Conclusions : We demonstrated that JNPs fulfilled their own legal liability in medical practice. They were legally responsible for the implementation of medical procedures and had to protect themselves, as their legal position was ambiguous. Moreover, even if JNPs performed legally ambiguous medical procedures, they fulfilled their responsibility as JNP through their actions. Furthermore, JNPs accepted that diagnosis and prescribing could be performed on behalf of doctors if trusting relationships were established with doctors.
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