Two State Nursing Boards Recognize Educated and Credentialed Medical Assistants

Earlier this year, Connecticut and South Carolina enacted legislation that empowered medical assistants in these states to perform tasks for which they are educated, credentialed, and competent. Recently, nursing boards in Delaware and South Dakota have similarly revised existing legislation to differentiate duties delegable to educated and credentialed medical assistants from tasks delegable to all other medical assistants.

Specifically, the Delaware Board of Nursing and the South Dakota Board of Nursing issued proposed regulations that allow licensed nurses to delegate to formally educated and credentialed medical assistants the administration of medications by speci­fied routes. Like the Connecticut and South Carolina legislation, these newer revisions speak to the ongoing demand for knowledgeable and competent medical assistants to perform a greater number of advanced functions.

Learn more about this trend and read supporting documentation in the November/December 2022 Public Affairs article, “Two State Nursing Boards Recognize Educated and Credentialed Medical Assistants,” on the “Public Affairs Articles” webpage.

Proposed Delaware Regulation Expands APRN Delegation to Medical Assistants

On June 9, 2022, I sent a letter to the executive director of the Delaware Board of Nursing regarding proposed regulations that would allow advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), including nurse practitioners, to delegate to educated and credentialed medical assistants the administration of medication.

Read the full letter here:

I am writing on behalf of the American Association of Medical Assistants® (AAMA), the national professional society for medical assistants, in regard to the following proposed addition to the regulations of the Delaware Board of Nursing (BON):

8.7.15.1 APRNs are authorized to assign and supervise medication administration to a medical assistant if the medical assistant has successfully completed a medical assistant training program and possesses current national medical assistant certification.

8.7.15.1.1 If a practice is solely operated by APRNs, the APRN must be present in the building when the medical assistant is administering medications and assumes liability for the actions of the medical assistant.

8.7.15.2 When a physician delegates to a medical assistant, and an organizational policy exists to allow the APRN to assign and supervise the medical assistant, the physician retains responsibility and accountability for the actions of the medical assistant and will be notified of unsafe or improper practices.

It is the position of the AAMA that medical assistants who have completed a medical assistant training program that includes medication administration theory and technique, and who have a current national medical assistant certification such as the CMA (AAMA)® that tests knowledge needed to safely administer medication, should be permitted to administer medication under the authority of APRNs—including nurse practitioners—and other licensed independent practitioners such as physicians.

The AAMA commends the Delaware BON for increasing the availability of safe and accessible health care for the residents of Delaware by proposing this revision to the BON regulations.