Is a charge nurse required by any law?

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Hello. I have been doing the charge nurse duities in Cath Lab but they say that a charge nurse is not required in Cath Lab. We are a 2 Cath lab procedure rooms and the only unit in the hospital without a charge nurse. I do the scheduling for RNs for staff. Daily schedule of who is in what procedure. Created and maintained the intra procedure guide notebook with extreme detail on how to make meds and dosage and protocols. I have also been the one updating protocols for Cath lab that haven't been updated as far back as 2009. Then sending them to my manager and the doctor for review. They say there is already a lead in Cath lab and the lead is a lead tech. He has been referring to me as the charge nurse for 2 years now although I am not officially one. My question is can a hospital even have a unit without a charge nurse?

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Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

Yes they can. It's not required by law. However, I think units run smoother with an effective charge.

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Specializes in GENERAL.
Yes they can. It's not required by law. However, I think units run smoother with an effective charge.

Only required by law if she takes a patient assignment when every other patient is coding but still only if she's low on bon-bons.

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In case anyone is still curious. It was deemed required by my employer using WAC 246-840-700 "standards of nursing conduct or practice" delineates nurses delegate to techs, CNAs, medical assistance, ect., not the other way around. Therefore if a lead is in the Cath lab a charge nurse must also be required/ or replace the lead.

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