Physician assistants (PAs) are employed in physician offices throughout the United States. Although PAs provide direct patient care, they are under the supervision of a licensed physician. Duties include taking patients’ medical histories, performing physical examinations, ordering diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, providing follow-up care, and teaching and counseling patients. In most states, PAs may write prescriptions. The PA may be the only health care practitioner a patient sees during his or her visit to the physician's office. Therefore, patients often refer to a PA as “the doctor.” Ned, a PA for five years, says the patients he sees often address him as “doctor.” Similarly, Marie, a long-time employee of a physician in private practice, is often called “the doctor’s nurse.” Although Marie has never had the training necessary to become a certified medical assistant or a registered nurse, she sometimes refers to herself as the “office nurse.” *Note: A health care practitioner is held to the standard of care practiced by a reasonably competent person of the same profession. A physician assistant using the title “doctor” and a medical assistant using the title “nurse” may be held to the standard of care of a physician and a nurse, respectively, and may be accused of practicing without the appropriate license. Reply Answer the following questions: What ethical considerations are evident in these situations?