who does your casting and splinting?

[cjthegreat]

When people come in with broken bones, who is responsible for casting and/or splinting? Is it the techs, nurses, residents, or doctors? Does your hospital require any special training or certification?

[Crocuta, RN]

When people come in with broken bones, who is responsible for casting and/or splinting? Is it the techs, nurses, residents, or doctors? Does your hospital require any special training or certification?

In my ED, routine splints (fiberglass or plaster) are applied by our ED techs. They go through a several hour class when they are first hired to learn all the different splints.

More complex fractures are sometimes splinted by our orthopedic surgeons when they come to see the patient in the ED.

I couldn't put a splint on if my patient's life depended on it. Wouldn't know where to start.

[LanaConga]

i had my ankle splinted by the emergency department doctor. he wasnt an orthopedic guy just emergency medicine but i think he just did it to flirt with me and my friend. haha but he did a damn good job because my ortho doctor was impressed by the splinting job. i suppose army people get better training (doc was army vet)

[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

In our ER, techs, nurses, doctors and once in a blue moon the ortho doc

[Larry77, RN]

Yeah mostly techs here too, once in awhile us nurses do it if there isn't a tech handy and if reduction is necessary sometimes the docs do it.

Funny, we have a new ortho doc that started couple months ago and she likes the old fiberglass that goes on in strips so we had to special order it and start to stock it because she is the only one that has ever requested it since we stopped stocking it. Now I understand preferring one style but why insist on making us stock a special kind that takes up space we don't have instead of using what you got? Plus that crap is so messy, drives us nuts.

BTW, I hate placing splints...

[Altra, BSN, RN]

i had my ankle splinted by the emergency department doctor. he wasnt an orthopedic guy just emergency medicine but i think he just did it to flirt with me and my friend. haha but he did a damn good job because my ortho doctor was impressed by the splinting job. i suppose army people get better training (doc was army vet)

Umm ... I would think the doc splinted your ankle so that you didn't leave the dept. with an unsupported, non-immobilized ankle. Don't ya think?

[Altra, BSN, RN]

Splinting is done in the ER, then pt. is referred to ortho for casting & further tx.

[SDS_RN, RN]

Only the Dr. place splints in our facility & we assist. We have a doc that also works in a diff state, works a few times a month up here & every time he comes up here he asks if the nurses can do it. Apparently at his other place of work he does not have to.

[RedSox33RN]

Our ED techs normally place splints on, then the pt is referred to within (hopefully) 24-48 hrs for further eval and casting.

A bunch of us RNs just had an in-service on splinting, taught by none other than one of the best techs we have!

[RN1980]

rns and techs do the fiber glass ortho splints and support wraps, if the techs do it the primary rn of the pt has to do a final check off on the splint/wrap etc...before the pt leaves the er. for casting needs ussually the ortho on call will come in and do it or will see the patient in the clinic in the am.

[scattycarrot, BSN, RN]

In the UK, nurses apply most of the casts, unless the hospital has techs but they tend to work only mon-fri 9-5 because thats when all the fractures happen, right?

[ayla2004, ASN, RN]

in my trust nurses did backslabs, and would cast after a shoulder dislocation was resited and pt had a follow up appointment with the fracture clinc. nurses only used pop, 1 PT full time in department would sheck support spilnts for non fractures