Staff privileges for nonphysicians. Part 2: A sampling of hospital programs and privileges for nurse practitioners and physician's assistants.

Physician's assistants and nurse practitioners, once thought to be a possible answer to the maldistribution of physicians, have extended their roles into the hospital setting and are now performing in a number of fields. Several programs utilizing to varying extents the services of these nonphysician health care workers are presented along with the different systems used in limiting their privileges.