Medical Workforce, The Royal Children's Hospital, Victoria, Australia.
Executive Health Management Program, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
Int J Health Plann Manage. 2023 Sep;38(5):1184-1211. doi: 10.1002/hpm.3678. Epub 2023 Jul 11.
The term scope of practice (SOP) refers to the limits of a health professional's knowledge, skills and experience and reflects all tasks and activities they undertake within the context of their professional role. Inconsistency in definitions of SOP contributes to uncertainty and confusion regarding professional practice boundaries and potentially impacts societal access to safe, effective and efficient healthcare options. The aim of this paper is to understand the conceptual diversity that may exist in terminology used to describe medical, nursing/midwifery and allied health SOP within an Australian practice context exemplar.
A systematic review for scoping and content analysis of SOP definitions and concepts, involving inductive thematic analysis and synthesis of published and grey literature.
The initial search strategy yielded 11,863 hits, of which 379 were suitable for inclusion. Data coding identified various SOP terms and definitions and the emergence of six, conceptual elements underpinning the theoretical construct. These were subsequently proposed as a preliminary conceptual model ('Solar') to explain how the six conceptual elements may be applied across various professions, clinical settings and jurisdictions to better understand and address current and evolving SOP issues.
The findings of this study highlight limited consistency in SOP definitions and terminology within a single jurisdiction, and the conceptual complexity of the underlying theoretical construct. Further research is required to build on the proposed 'Solar' conceptual model and create a universal SOP definition across jurisdictions, to enhance understanding of the importance of SOP to workforce policy, clinical governance, service models and patient outcomes.
实践范围（SOP）一词是指卫生专业人员的知识、技能和经验的界限，并反映了他们在专业角色背景下承担的所有任务和活动。SOP 定义的不一致导致了对专业实践界限的不确定性和混淆，并可能影响到社会获得安全、有效和高效的医疗保健选择。本文的目的是了解在澳大利亚实践背景下，用于描述医学、护理/助产学和联合健康 SOP 的术语中可能存在的概念多样性。
对 SOP 定义和概念进行了系统的范围界定和内容分析，涉及对已发表和灰色文献的归纳主题分析和综合。
最初的搜索策略产生了 11863 个命中结果，其中 379 个适合纳入。数据编码确定了各种 SOP 术语和定义，以及理论结构的六个概念要素的出现。随后提出了一个初步的概念模型（“Solar”）来解释如何将这六个概念要素应用于各种专业、临床环境和司法管辖区，以更好地理解和解决当前和不断发展的 SOP 问题。
这项研究的结果突出了在单一司法管辖区内 SOP 定义和术语的一致性有限，以及潜在理论结构的概念复杂性。需要进一步研究来扩展拟议的“Solar”概念模型，并在司法管辖区内创建通用的 SOP 定义，以增强对 SOP 对劳动力政策、临床治理、服务模式和患者结果的重要性的理解。
