Intubation

[rnwithtof]

Why aren't nurses trained to intubate? I know other health care professionals are there to do it, but I am just curious why nurses were never trained.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Some nurses do intubate. Like any skillset you must first learn to do it correctly, do it under supervision and then when proficient, do it often to keep the skillset up. Much depends on your nurse practice act in your state. I live in IL and am licensed as a pre-hospital RN and I do intubate in a pre-hospital environment.

[GilaRRT]

I agree. As a flight RN, I am able to intubate. However, in most hospitals, the Doc/CRNA and in some cases the RT will do the intubation. Trust me, in a busy ER, you will have enough on your plate without having to worry about performing the intubation.

[rnwithtof]

I figured a flight RN might, but I wasn't sure if the flight medic would do it instead. So the training for intubation is after school if your state allows RNs to intubate?

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Yes. And...IMHO, assessment skill is what is going to help to keep your pt from being intubated.

[CHATSDALE]

in a hospital where i work the resp therapist would call in nurses to perform intubations on deceased patients before the funeral home came to pick up the body

[sharann, BSN, RN]

As if nurses do not already do enough and have enough liablity you want us to intubate as well? Well, of course flight nurses should but in the hospital I would go with the physicians and in some places Respiratory therapist who do it every dingle day and are practiced at it.

Intubation is a skill that leaves very little room for error, sometimes you get one shot at it. If a pt goes bad enough they need intubation there is already likely airway compromise and swelling. One could do alot of damage with those rigid tubes.

I have heard that some ER nurses can intubate and I believe if they have the need for it and are able to get certified in it by their hospitals they should be allowed to..but I would not want to be them. I can get sued for anything already thank you.

[rizzle]

in a hospital where i work the resp therapist would call in nurses to perform intubations on deceased patients before the funeral home came to pick up the body

Is that ethical?

[GilaRRT]

I figured a flight RN might, but I wasn't sure if the flight medic would do it instead. So the training for intubation is after school if your state allows RNs to intubate?

Yes. Endotracheal intubation is not a "core" nursing procedure. Work on developing excellent BLS airway management techniques. The ability to position the airway, perform ELM or cricoid pressure, use BLS adjuncts, and use proper BVM technique along with airway assessment techniques in addition to knowledge of the medications and tube placement verification techniques and patient monitoring will be critical. You see, the only thing the doc has to do is drop the tube. Everything else is your problem, including knowing what to to when the doc cannot get the tube. This is where the good old BLS techniques that everybody forgets will come into play.

[RedCell]

Why aren't nurses trained to intubate? I know other health care professionals are there to do it, but I am just curious why nurses were never trained.

Intubating a dude in most situations is such a basic skill that a monkey could do it if given enough opportunities. Correct mask ventilation is a much more difficult task to master. From what I have seen when paged to the floor for airway assistance a lot of us who think we are doing it right, are really just blowing a cuppla liters of air straight into the belly or not even creating a good seal at all. RNs have enough responsibilites in the clinical setting already. Let the other dudes do something productive to earn their pay.

[PageRespiratory!]

Intubating a dude in most situations is such a basic skill that a monkey could do it if given enough opportunities. Correct mask ventilation is a much more difficult task to master. From what I have seen when paged to the floor for airway assistance a lot of us who think we are doing it right, are really just blowing a cuppla liters of air straight into the belly or not even creating a good seal at all. RNs have enough responsibilites in the clinical setting already. Let the other dudes do something productive to earn their pay.

That is perhaps the second most unintelligiblepost I've read on this forum.

And at the same time, a good point was made. In every hospital I've ever worked in, RT has done all the emergency endotracheal intubations. I've probably intubated a few hundred Pt's, and am often viewed as the "go to guy" when tubing someone with a difficult AW. I was initially trained by an RN(CRNA).

[hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN]

You'd understand RedCell if you had read House of God. It seems his persona is an extension of the Fat Man's, and I'm personally loving it. Very informative.