Fetal Heart Monitoring Certification

[Korina Cole]

I work in Labor and Delivery as an RN.. Recently, our administration has hired LVN's to work on the unit as nursery nurses. The suggestion has been made by administration to send LVN's and CNA to a fetal heart monitoring class to become certified in reading FHM strips. Is this within the scope of practice for LVNS/CNAS??? Please provide any information you might have on the practice in your facility. I live in California - please respond if you live in the State (I realize other states allow LVNs to complete skills that arent allowed in California) I appreciate any comments.

[CA CoCoRN, RN]

I don't know that it is within an LVN (in the state of CA) to make an ASSESSMENT and implement care based on reading a FHM strip. Actually, I KNOW that it's NOT.

CA BRN Practice Act is that nursing care provided to intrapartal (laboring) pt's be provided by Registered Nurses.

So....sure! they can take a class and know how to read the strips...but they wouldn't actually be providing care based on their ASSESSMENT of the strip. They'd need to report to the RN and s/he's delegate what to do....if even s/he'd do that.

For instance, an LVN is on the unit and they see non-reassuring tracing: they'd tell the primary RN for that patient and s/he'd "take care of it".

We have LVNs who work on the unit as our Scrubs. One of them (who went on to get her RN and now works on the unit) did take FHM certification when she was an LVN. That was great that she had a headstart.

However, because of that, she did tend to overstep her LVN bounds and even try to interpret the strips to the MDs (who bit her in the orifice for that). So as long as they know the capacity in which they are to "use" their knowledge, I don't see a prob with it.