Two positions while working?

hmm - interesting question.

I have worked with small (~ 20 bed) rural facilities in the past that had many types of staffers doing 'double duty'. They simply did not have the volumes (or $) to have 24X7 ancillary staff. Basically, it came down to a choice of not providing service or having nurses cross-train. Nurses are always there and our education prepares us as generalists, so it's usually just a matter of additional technical crosstraining since we already have the underlying knowledge.

It was not uncommon for nurses to cross-train for basic lab, resp tx and radiology functions as well as handle pharmacy dispensing under the "supervision" of the town pharmacist who made rounds once a day. In some instances, I know that the facilities obtained waivers from regulatory agencies - but I don't exactly know how it was handled by the various professional licensing boards.

Since professional licensure is a state-regulated function, I would imagine that there is a lot of variation in how this could be addressed.

OH - and before the question is asked..... no, these rural nurses did not get any extra money for the additional duties.