LPN in trouble......

Nurses LPN/LVN

Published

Specializes in LTC.

heres my question......are stna's allowed to do fingersticks?? so i was slammed @ work one day, go figure nobody offers help, so i had my stna do one fsbs for me. no insulin nothing like that, just a fingerstick. friday i get a phone call that im off the schedule until i speak to my don. i just cant imagine getting fired for that. i do my job and i do it good. if anybody knows the stna ohio scope of practice.....please help!!!:nono:

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Specializes in Wound Care, LTC, Sub-Acute, Vents.
heres my question......are stna's allowed to do fingersticks?? so i was slammed @ work one day, go figure nobody offers help, so i had my stna do one fsbs for me. no insulin nothing like that, just a fingerstick. friday i get a phone call that im off the schedule until i speak to my don. i just cant imagine getting fired for that. i do my job and i do it good. if anybody knows the stna ohio scope of practice.....please help!!!:nono:

the nursing assistants i know can do accu-check. they can even draw blood. good luck with your predicament.

angel

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Sorry to hear you are having trouble.

The CNAs where I work do not do bgm. I think you just need to go in and talk to your DON and explain to her that you now see what you did was wrong/against facility policy. I would hope you do not get fired for this. Whatever you do, don't defend your actions. If it is against policy at your facility they are not going to want to hear your excuses.

Good luck.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

At my place of employment, CNAs do not obtain fingersticks or participate in any sort of blood glucose monitoring whatsoever.

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Specializes in Onco, palliative care, PCU, HH, hospice.

Where I work in a hospital setting they can, however when I worked in LTC as an aide we were not allowed to do them.

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Specializes in Post Anesthesia.
Sorry to hear you are having trouble.

The CNAs where I work do not do bgm. I think you just need to go in and talk to your DON and explain to her that you now see what you did was wrong/against facility policy. I would hope you do not get fired for this. Whatever you do, don't defend your actions. If it is against policy at your facility they are not going to want to hear your excuses.

Good luck.

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! Maybe you have a better quality of aid at your institution but at ours, I barley let out NAs empty foleys. The accurate measurment of fluid is beyond most of them. If the value reported to you was WNL would you trust that information as part of your assessment? If it wasn't WNL would you act on it without rechecking? I agree your judgement was suspect and all you can do is throw yourself on the mercy of the DON and promise to follow policy inthe future. Glucometer checks aren't ordered for giggles- the doc is depending on a trained person to accurately assess the patients glucose status to manage his care. If the aid or tech has been trained in this skill you can delegate but without proper training the results are not to be trusted. I hope this turns out OK for you- we all have learned from mistakes. We ask patients how they learn best when assessing teaching needs (written, verbal, demonstration..) I personally learn best by screwing up and getting chewed out! Hope that is all that happens to you. One minor mistake shouldn't cost a job and they will have a wiser nurse next time.

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I have never known of CNAs doing this function. I don't think it is allowed in my state otherwise it probably would have been common practice in the long term care facilities where I worked. I once observed a licensed nurse who did these checks by writing values in the book. She would put the glucometer on top of her cart so that there might be the appearance that she was checking, but in reality she never checked just like there were a lot of other things she wouldn't do, except sleep all night. If a licensed nurse conducts herself in this manner, can you imagine relying on one of the lazy type CNAs to do it? I've seen CNAs make up vital signs, I&Os, and anything else they are told to do. Wouldn't rely on those who don't like work to do this important task. It gives me shudders to think about that nurse just penning in values.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.

CNAs can do CBGs in our facility. However, you should always know the scope of practice of those you are supervising!

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i work in ohio and our aides do all of the fsbs

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Specializes in ER, NICU, NSY and some other stuff.

It would depend on the P&P of your facility.

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Where I work in a hospital setting they can, however when I worked in LTC as an aide we were not allowed to do them.

Ditto :yeahthat:

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Specializes in LTC.

Thanks for the replies. A little FYI the aid does know how to do a fingerstick, Im not the only nurse whos had her do them. Its not exactly brain surgery. I would never put any of my residents in danger. Guess I need to appreciate my STNAs a little more. I have some of the best. Theres nothing in my policy book about this. I just assumed that was a duty that could be delegated if they new what they were doing. Big lesson learned.....NEVER ASSUME IN NURSING. Welp I go in to see my boss tomm. wish me luck!!

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