Editorial

Advanced Practitioners as Allies and Advocates

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ABSTRACT

Advanced practitioners (APs) are a growing proportion of the health-care team. As of 2019, there were approximately 325,000 nurse practitioners, 7,000 clinical nurse specialists, and nearly 140,000 physician assistants in the United States (American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 2021; National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, 2020; National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, 2019). Although this totals up to 500,000, it is hard to say how many of these APs focus their practice on hematology/oncology, as certification is not required, which is a major method to track these data. Pharmacists are also integral members of the health-care team. As of April 2021, there were 3,600 board-certified oncology pharmacists (BCOP), although this underestimates the number of pharmacists who practice in hematology and oncology who are not BCOP certified (Board of Pharmacy Specialties, 2021).

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