| Committee of Jurisdiction: | Health and Human Services |
| Occupation Regulated: | Surgical First Assistant |
| Occupational Board: | Board of Medicine and Surgery |
| Contact: | Nicole Barrett |
| Purpose: | The Surgical First Assistant Practice Act standards for licensure requirements and professional practice are necessary to protect the health and safety of the public. |
| Regulated Professionals: | 69 |
| Year Created: | 2016 |
| Year Active: | 2016 |
| Sunset Date: | N/A |
| Statutory Authorization: | Board §§ 38-2010 & 38-2023; Surgical First Assistant §§ 38-3501, 38-3507, 38-3511 |
| Parent Agency: | Department of Health and Human Services |
| Number of Members: | 8 |
| Who Appoints: | State Board of Health |
| Legislative Approval: | No |
| Qualifications of Members: | 2 public members; 2 of the 6 professional members must be officials or members of the instructional staff of an accredited medical school in this state; 1 of the professional members must be licensed to practice osteopathic medicine and surgery in this state; and 1 of the professional members must be a physician with experience in practice with physician assistants. |
| Per Diem: | Yes |
| Expense Reimbursement: | Yes |
| Term Length: | Terms of 5-years; up to 2 consecutive full 5-year terms |
| Terms Rotate or Expire at Once: | Terms Rotate |
| Required FY 2024-2023: | 1 |
| Held FY 2024-2023: | 9 |
| Required FY 2023-2022: | 1 |
| Held FY 2023-2022: | 9 |
| Required FY 2022-2021: | 1 |
| Held FY 2022-2021: | 10 |
| Required FY 2021-2020: | 1 |
| Held FY 2021-2020: | 10 |
| Required FY 2020-2019: | 1 |
| Held FY 2020-2019: | 7 |
| Support Staff: | 4 (Program Manager, Health Licensing Coordinator, 2 Administrative Technicians) |
| Shared or Separate: | Program Manager & Health Licensing Coordinator = shared; Administrative Technicians = separate |
| FY 2024-2023 Budget: | 0 |
| FY 2023-2022 Budget: | 0 |
| FY 2022-2021 Budget: | 0 |
| FY 2021-2020 Budget: | 0 |
| FY 2020-2019 Budget: | 0 |
| Other Funding Sources: | None |
| Spending Authority: | Licensure fees are deposited into the designated cash fund. Additional info sent to the Committee. |
| Government Certificates Issued: | 85 |
| Issued Certificate Descriptions: | DHHS' licensing system was unfortunately not designed to query by individual license type for a specified period of time and would require additional programming to narrow the data for this request. The number reported reflects those issued since inception. A surgical first assistant promotes patient safety through providing primary assistance to the primary surgeon during a surgical procedure. |
| Government Certificates Revoked: | 0 |
| Revoked Certificate Descriptions: | n/a |
| Government Certificates Denied: | 0 |
| Denied Certificate Descriptions: | n/a |
| Government Certificates Penalties Against: | 0 |
| Penalty Certificate Descriptions: | n/a |
| Explanation of Effectiveness: | https://nebraskalegislature.gov/pdf/SurveyDocs/explanation1725388035.pdf |
| Potential Harm | The public could experience harm if surgical first assistants are not regulated. Having minimum standards for education and examinations to assess a practitioner’s competency reduce the potential for harm to the public. Some of the potential harm include increasing the risk of infection at surgical sites during a procedure or during recovery. Having minimum standards for education and examinations to assess a practitioner’s competency allows the surgeon to more efficiently utilize their medical judgment to assist patients while protecting the public from potential harm. |
| Regulation Comparison: | https://nebraskalegislature.gov/pdf/SurveyDocs/comparison1725388035.pdf |
| Subject to Regulations of Act(LB407): | Yes |
| Survey Submitted: | September 3, 2024 01:27 PM |