Nurses Defibrillating???

Specialties MICU

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Specializes in ER/SICU/Med-Surg/Ortho/Trauma/Flight.

:nurse:Do you think properly trained nurses should defib.? Is this in our scope?:nurse:

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Specializes in Advanced Practice, surgery.

Absolutely, why on earth not. You are the most likely person to find a collasped patient so in my view the most important person to be taught and practice defibrillation

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Here in the UK if the nurse was appropriately trained and kept up to date they can defib, Agree with Sherrie if properly trained you give the patient a better chance and research has stated this. I know we are seeing more and more defibs in local areas like shopping centers

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:nurse:Do you think properly trained nurses should defib.? Is this in our scope?:nurse:

I'm confused you say you been a nurse in ICU + ER for 9 years and you are asking if this is in your scope of practice. Do they not require you to be ACLS certified? A nurse must be ACLS certified to shock

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Specializes in ER/ICU/Flight.
I'm confused you say you been a nurse in ICU + ER for 9 years and you are asking if this is in your scope of practice. Do they not require you to be ACLS certified? A nurse must be ACLS certified to shock

I'm not trying to argue but I don't beleive a nurse has to complete an ACLS course in order to use an defibrillate with an AED (which is contained on most non-ER/OR/PACU/ICU crash carts). In my hospital, we have to have current ACLS cards in the ICU and we are the only nurses who can use a manual defibrillator but as a member of the code/response team I certainly would expect a nurse who called a code on the floor or in a clinic to have defibbed a shockable rhythm.

I do agree that it's strange for an ICU/ER nurse going on 10 years to ask if it's in our scope of practice.

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yeah you are right you do not have to be ACLS to use AED

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Absofreakinglutely!!! I've defibbed a few here and there and will continue to do so if anyone needs it! Been a couple of times, the patient would have died if we waited on the doc to get there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Specializes in ER/SICU/Med-Surg/Ortho/Trauma/Flight.

Oh I think nurses should defib. Im an ICU house Sup., I was just trying to get a new topic started off we could discuss, that, and the fact we have one nurse from the old days whos semi-retired who doesnt think alot of things nurses should be doing-lol, shes always starting good topics in the unit lol.

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Specializes in ER/SICU/Med-Surg/Ortho/Trauma/Flight.

Believe me, Im acls, pals, yata, yata yata, I just wanted to know opinions, thats all. And yes I defib., People all the time, the fact Im on the code team and trauma team, and the great and wonderful rapid response team-lol.

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Specializes in Cardiac, Post Anesthesia, ICU, ER.
Oh I think nurses should defib. Im an ICU house Sup., I was just trying to get a new topic started off we could discuss, that, and the fact we have one nurse from the old days whos semi-retired who doesnt think alot of things nurses should be doing-lol, shes always starting good topics in the unit lol.

This is WHY older nurses need to keep up on CONTINUING EDUCATION!!! I worked with a nurse several years ago that remembers the first archaic defibs when they lit people on fire because they really weren't 100% sure what they were doing. We've come a LONG way since then, but she unlike the "semi-retired" nurse had stayed up on times, and I watched her defib a couple of patient in the 18 or so months I worked with her. That's kind of how we got on the subject of the olden days when the patient had to be "extinguished" to continue the resuscitative efforts.

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Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

they teach defib in regular healthcare provider cpr . they also teach it to the people that work in walmart for in-store emergencies....

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Specializes in ER/ICU/Flight.
Oh I think nurses should defib. Im an ICU house Sup., I was just trying to get a new topic started off we could discuss, that, and the fact we have one nurse from the old days whos semi-retired who doesnt think alot of things nurses should be doing-lol, shes always starting good topics in the unit lol.

sorry, I wasn't trying to discredit you or anything, just didn't understand where the question came from. My mom's been an RN for 44 years and she had a hard time when MDs stopped putting in IVs!

I also think that if someone arrests outside of the ICU/ER/OR/etc that the nurse should be able to push epi or vasopressin before the code team arrives. If the patient is pulsesless and apeic, those drugs are indicated regardless of the underlying rhythm. A basic EMT should be able to do the same and some places they can. It may sound cavalier, but "what's it going to hurt at that point?"

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