LPN IV Push

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Good day one and all. Does your facility have a policy that limits the drugs that an LPN can give IV after attending an IV push class? I have polled several hospitals in our area and had a variety of answers. Our facility has about 15 drugs the LPN can push. Other hospitals let them push everything with a few exceptions. How do you do it?

Atleast 1 hospital also let the LPN hang blood...

I may be dumb, but since when do LPN's act as preceptors for RN grads?

What LPN can and can not do depends on the nurse practice act of that state. Obviously you are in a state that allows them to push meds. However, your hospital may put further restrictions on an LPN.

The hospital can not allow you to push anything that the state does not allow. Yet the hospital may have a policy that states that you may not push certain things that are allowed under your nurse practice act.

In the states I have worked LPNs could not push meds.

In one state they could not give blood. but they could give abx.

In another state they could not give abx but could give blood. and cristaloids containing kcl.

It really depends on the particular state and the policies of the particular hospital with in the state.

The RN practice act does not vary to the extent the LPN's does

I think you are taking that "going to school for a year" very lightly. I have worked to get all of the SAME prereqs as an RN and although I am in school for JUST a year. I am there EVERYDAY sometimes until four and in clinical twice a week. Starting at 6 am. Please don't minimize my one year of school it took two years of prereqs to get here and it is ALOT of work. Some CNA's can complete their program by going to school once a week for seven weeks or every day for two weeks and we are trained much more extensively. We are not the same. I only have one year after this until I have my RN. Have a little love for the LPN.

The prereqs are fine.

It's the different type of education you get in a 2, 3, or 4 year RN program that makes the difference.

In case you are not aware, the RN program requires the same hours per day, 5 days a week, with at least 3 days a week in clinical.

The preparation, requirements of clinical experience and training are not the same.

That is why you are granted a different status. SHE is a REGISTERED nurse,

YOU are a LICSENCED Vocational nurse.

The training and education are not comparable, no matter how hard you have worked. There are things in an RN's education you have never HEARD of. And it's not about who does what on the floor. It's about the rationale behind those actions. Lots of stuff that happens in a hospital takes place behind people's foreheads.

Congrats to you on going forward with your education, you will soon understand the diference .

I'm a little confused. I am a new LPN (charge nurse in a LTC) and three of my patients are on antibiotics (Vancomycin & Timentin). I administer the drugs via PICC line using SASH procedure. I have not had IV training and my training on these patients consisted of being shown 4 times by supervisors how to do it and doing it with them about two times. Since then, I've been on my own. In school, I was told that as an LPN, I would not be doing IV pushes, etc. So I was surprised when these patients were transferred to my floor. All the LPN's in my facility are expected to do this.

What do you other nurses think about me doing this at my current stage (LPN for 8 weeks)?

Check with your board of nursing. If it is not covered in the nurse practice act of your state that you may do this and under these circumstances then it is you who will face criminal prosecution.

It is your responsibility to know what you can and can not do. Employers try all the time to get LPNs to do things out of thier scope of practice because they would rather pay an LPN than an RN. It is up to you to know what is right and to stand up for yourself and your patients.

I have personally never had a situation where I pushed vanco it was always piggybacked. Is is possible you are confusing pushing with piggy backing?

IV PUSH GOES DIRECTLY INTO CIRCULATION, WHERE IN THE IV HANGING IS TIMED, AND USUALLY DRIPS SLOWLY INTO CIRCULATION. I WOULD ASSUME, THERE IS A SMALL AMT OF TIME TO STOP THE IV DRIP, AND CATCH THE ERROR, AS OPPOSE TO IV PUSH ALL MEDICATION GOES STRAIGHT INTO THE BLOOD STREAM ALL AT ONCE.

Yes, there IS time to stop the IV drip, unless it is a crucial med like Nitroprusside, or Cardizem, in which case, even a little could be too much. So, if it is not IV push, by the arguments I have seen here, I guess LVN's should be allowed to give those as well?

Come on, we have to think outside of the box. It's not about drips or pushes, it's about patient safety and the education needed to handle dangerous substances.

Specializes in medical, telemetry, IMC.

at my hospital, lvns can start ivs, hang iv meds, do iv pushes (except cardiac and chemo drugs), and monitor blood once an rn has hung it.

im an lpn in fl and at my facility we're allowed to push certain narcotics up to certain mg for example we can push up to 4 mg of morphine , we can also give phenergan, benadryl, soludmedrol and more i dont have my list handy. but we're not allowed to push any type of cardiac meds such as enalapril or metoprolol or give hydromorphone and we cant sign out blood without an rn present and we cant start the blood but we are able to monitor the blood after the first fifteen minutes of the blood being started. We can hang all iv's and piggybacks whether its going through a heplock, picc or cvl. but we're not allowed to hang drips. but again it depends on the facility too. because some hospitals in our area dont allow lpns to do what we do. I had to go through a bit of training at my facility even after being iv certified.

The prereqs are fine.

It's the different type of education you get in a 2, 3, or 4 year RN program that makes the difference.

In case you are not aware, the RN program requires the same hours per day, 5 days a week, with at least 3 days a week in clinical.

The preparation, requirements of clinical experience and training are not the same.

That is why you are granted a different status. SHE is a REGISTERED nurse,

YOU are a LICSENCED Vocational nurse.

The training and education are not comparable, no matter how hard you have worked. There are things in an RN's education you have never HEARD of. And it's not about who does what on the floor. It's about the rationale behind those actions. Lots of stuff that happens in a hospital takes place behind people's foreheads.

Congrats to you on going forward with your education, you will soon understand the diference .

user_offline.gif report.gif

Did I say we were the same? NO I didn't, did I say our education was the same no, I didn't. I asked not to be compared to a CNA and not for my work to be minimized. I understand there are far more things I will be taught in the RN program. In my college the RN students have the same clinical hours and class hours. That is neither here nor there. I wasn't comparing the two I was just asking not to be minimized. I would also like to say, that I know we will be taught more in that ONE YEAR LEFT after LPN school but we ARE taught critical thinking, it isn't ALL just bedside and no theory. I know it can't possibly be the same thing but we aren't robots who are taught skills and have no idea what is behind them.

I worked acute care for many years and LPN's in that facility could not do any IV push meds, hang blood, hang bulk IV's or hang IV meds (including abx's) I always thought it was a state regulation.

+ Add a Comment