Can STNA's insert catheters?

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Jul 3, 2009

Do you work for a home health agency or as a private caregiver?

MotivatedOne · Jul 3, 2009

NA II's can insert catheters and Student NA II's can as well under the supervision of a licensed nurse.

I had to look the acronym STNA up because I honestly didn't know what it stood for. I'm not sure whether or not it basically means the same as a CNA but I'm guessing it does. CNA II's or STNA II (if there is such a thing) are the only NA's who can insert catheters w/o a nurse's supervision.

caliotter3 · Jul 4, 2009

Do you work for a home health agency or directly for the patient? If you work directly for the patient, he hired you, and he pays you, then you can do anything that you and he agree upon. If you work for a home health agency, then you are required to work according to your scope of practice. In my state CNAs can not do invasive procedures. Any time that you have a question of this nature, you should call the state agency that oversees CNAs in your state and get your info from them. Make certain that you also get the name of the person who answers you, in case the subject ever comes up again.

ohiocleveland · Jul 4, 2009

I only know of a few STNA's in Ohio that insert cath... they work in hosp and have been trained... I'm not sure about the home health practice, as some already mention check with the agency you worked for, if you do...

Crash_Cart · Jul 5, 2009

If you work for a home health agency, then you are required to work according to your scope of practice.

Correct.

Any invasive procedure like that requires licensed supervision. We can actually perform the procedure, (I have...I used to do 100's of them a long time ago in the early 80's when I was a "Nursing Orderly" but we were trained and things were much different back then.) It's just that today we cannot perform any invasive procedures independently. It has been my past experience working with RN's and LPN's over the years they generally don't "like" us to do Foley's these days because of potential liability or potential injury issues involved. Actually, when you think about it, I can really understand why, especially when it's their license on the line.

For the most part, I just try to provide assistance to the RN or LPN in other ways. Typically, I would limit myself to retrieving the tray and other supplies, positioning and preparing the patient, setup the Foley drainage bag, maintain the sterile field etc.. It's really best if they actually inject the xylocaine gel, perform the Foley insertion, balloon etc. Connecting the Foley to the drainage bag seems to be a bit of a Grey area, but it's generally viewed as OK if you are competent and "trusted."

My Best.