This document does not address the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN). The APRN will be addressed in the AORN Position Statement on the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Practicing in the Perioperative Setting. Following are answers to questions the task force received during the commenting process. 1. Who is the intended audience for this

document? Everyone, including but not limited to members, state boards of nursing, hospital administrators, legislators, other professional organizations, and international nurses. 2. Why was the position Vemurafenib statement revised before the 2015 sunset date? Based on comments received during the last revision cycle in 2009-2010, the Board of Directors believed there was a need for an education component within the RNFA position statement. A task force

of RNFAs was established to address the issue and to explore the impact of this change. Based on the results of a survey and other comments the task force received, they made the decision to incorporate the APRN position statement into the RNFA position statement. However, during the subsequent member comment period, the task force and Board of Directors received many comments that the first assisting APRN portion should not be in the RNFA position statement. The decision was then made to revise the Protein Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor existing APRN position statement, and the original task force was split into two separate groups to complete this project. 3. Why is a bachelor’s degree required and not a bachelor’s of science in nursing (BSN) degree? The bachelor’s degree requirement is being maintained to allow for consistency

with RNFA certification examination requirements from the Competency & Credentialing Institute. There are some Benzatropine nurses for whom nursing is a second career, and they already possess a bachelor’s degree in a different field. There also are schools of nursing that confer a bachelor of science degree (BS) and not a BSN. 4. Why is a bachelor’s degree required and not an advanced practice degree or certification? The task force agreed that the RNFA role is an expanded role of the RN circulating nurse and does not require advanced practice education. The APRN may perform the role of the first assistant, but the APRN scope of practice goes beyond that of the RN. 5. Why do we need the statement “the RNFA practicing prior to January 1, 2020, may continue to practice at his or her existing level of education”? This recommendation is a grandfather-type clause that will allow those currently practicing in the role of RNFA to continue to practice without having to attain a bachelor’s degree. The task force members felt strongly that although currently practicing RNFAs should be encouraged to acquire a bachelor’s degree, they should not be required to do so to continue in their current role. 6.