Table 5 Principle-based leading practices for regulating scope of practice
Regulatory principle | Description related to scopes of practice | Leading practices |
|---|---|---|
Definition | Clear definitions of professional scope that advance regulators’ mandate of protecting public safety | Uniform legislation and regulatory authorities operating nationally provide consistent and clear practice standards and regulatory frameworks (Australia) |
Flexibility | Regulation sufficiently flexible and responsive to allow for timely innovation and optimization in scopes of practice | Umbrella frameworks that offer regulatory flexibility and loosen the restrictiveness of scopes of practice (many Canadian jurisdictions) |
Accountability | Scope of practice regulation is transparent and contributes to high-quality and safe patient care | Transparent and publicly accountable risk-based processes with separate oversight body (UK) |
Efficiency | Optimizing coherence, coordination, and communication while maintaining focus on public safety | Licensure compacts allowing licensure recognition and sharing of regulatory data across jurisdictions (US) |
Collaboration | Legitimate stakeholder perspectives included in scope of practice consultations and definitions | Increased public engagement in regulatory processes such as community reference group (Australia) |