CNA performing a newborn screen?

[rnmi2004]

The thread on fundal pressure got me thinking about the birth of my third child five years ago. The CNM instructed the nurse to use fundal pressure. It's on the tape of his birth, and I was looking up the info from my files on his birth to see if the CNM included this in her dictation of the labor & delivery report (she didn't).

Anyhow, I came across the newborn screen checklist and the discharge instruction sheet, and I noticed that they were both signed by a CNA!! The form had "RN signature" printed on it. I wasn't even a nursing student when this happened, so I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but now I'm wondering if anyone else has seen a CNA perform a newborn screen because it kind of bothers me (my son was/is fine, btw). Can the hospital train them to do this? It was a smaller, rural hospital, if that makes a difference.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Wow, CNAs are really doing alot aren't they?

What do they need nurses for?

Shut my mouth......

We don't have CNAs in our hospital (the OB unit - the other units do). We have one LPN (she works only in the nursery). All others are RNs.

As a student/extern, I've done the genetic screen, the hearing test, the initial newborn assessment, the Ballard, discharge teaching, just about everything.