Legislation affecting TN nurses

:angryfire

ATTENTION TN NURSES

Did you know that there is a bill in our state congress, that if passed would allow a person who has served in the armed forces as a medical specialist advanced, medical service technician or advanced hospital corpsman tech. to be licensed as a registered nurse without course study, a diploma or degree from an approved school of nursing?? If passed, these "nurses" would be responsible for your family's care. This is house bill HB850. It is in subcommittee and will be voted on tomorrow morning. If you are opposed and would like to notify your congressman, I have the phone # and email addresses. Let me know. I will check the board later today.

I was stationed at the National Naval Medical Ctr In Bethesda MD., We are trained to do all the functions that RN's do in the civilian world, ie start IVs, give shots, pass meds, all aspects of patient care, we even suture in some settings, basically what ever is necessary. I don't know what your experience is with armed forces medicine, but please don't take our talents lightly.

:angryfire

I was stationed at the National Naval Medical Ctr In Bethesda MD., We are trained to do all the functions that RN's do in the civilian world, ie start IVs, give shots, pass meds, all aspects of patient care, we even suture in some settings, basically what ever is necessary. I don't know what your experience is with armed forces medicine, but please don't take our talents lightly.

Dear iwrbr

I am sorry to anger you so. I do not take your talents or your service to our country lightly. I very much appreciate it. The initial question I asked on this, which I did not see when I clicked on this time was to ask for comparison to the current RN training. I don't know whether you saw them, but I did get some Navy RN responses, and a corpsman response who basically praised the work of those positions, but said they did a lot of the "functions" that an RN does. LPNs also do a lot of these functions, but RNs are trained to do more than the functions. It is easier to think someone is working hard if you see them physically doing some kind of procedure than if they are sitting at a desk evaluating the lab tests that come back on a patient, symptoms that a patient is having and determining whether these are due to their illness, meds, or out of wack lab work. The doctors expect us to know this. For example, if I have a patient with a low potassium, I have to decide is it critical enough to call the doctor then or can it wait several hours for the doctor to come in. Another example, I am an OB nurse and have a questionable pattern on the fetal monitor, and have done all my treatments to correct the oxygenation of the fetus. The pattern still is the same. I call my doctor and tell him/her about the pattern and to please come to evaluate the pattern. They say they'll be in, in a few hours. I ask them to please come now. Do I just do as they say or do I go above them and call the medical director? These are just 2 of the multitude of situations that come up. Again, you are right, I don't know what all you do. That is why I put the question on this site. To hear from the people that work in your situations. Perhaps you do have the education and training to do this. But are you sure that "most" of the people listed in the proposed legislation get this education and training? I bet there are some of you who have some wonderful RNs that not only teach you the procedures, but why sterile technique is so important, s & Sx to watch for and how other body systems are affected by that procedure, etc., but there are those of us that don't do that. I started out as a nurses aid over 20 years ago. I was taught sterile technique by another nursing assistant. She taught me correctly. She was taught by the RN in charge many years before. When I started Nursing school, some of it was much easier for me than others, because I had that experience. I do believe that you should get credit in the schools for your particular experience. There are already programs for LPNs who want to enter RN programs to do this and it could be the same for our armed service medical personnel. The LPNs do not start in the programs at the same place as someone who has no experience.

I have great respect for anyone who defends our country, but just because you're in the military doesnt mean you are above certification. The NCLEX- whether it measures true nursing or not, is not for the nursing professional-persay, but provides a service to the public saying that you are certified and trained to practice safely as a registered nurse. This is why the NCLEX was established and why there is a state board of nursing. They are there to protect the public #1, I can't image any state board of nursing to go along with it. Let's face it, as a recent graduate and having to sit through the NCLEX in a few weeks, it would be a disservice to anyone in the nursing profession if this was passed. Not in TN yet, but will be in 2 weeks and will most definately become familiar with my Reps, and Senators!!

I have great respect for anyone who defends our country, but just because you're in the military doesnt mean you are above certification. The NCLEX- whether it measures true nursing or not, is not for the nursing professional-persay, but provides a service to the public saying that you are certified and trained to practice safely as a registered nurse. This is why the NCLEX was established and why there is a state board of nursing. They are there to protect the public #1, I can't image any state board of nursing to go along with it. Let's face it, as a recent graduate and having to sit through the NCLEX in a few weeks, it would be a disservice to anyone in the nursing profession if this was passed. Not in TN yet, but will be in 2 weeks and will most definately become familiar with my Reps, and Senators!!

The site to get this info is http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/

Scroll down and click on "text" found in the middle of the page. You can get all kind of info. That is bill # sb0878 to go to general welfare committee soon. Let me know if you need more detailed help with this site.

I am aware that our fine service members with the above-mentioned medical training currently are permitted to sit for the LPN boards. I have absolutely no problem with their ability to perform nursing tasks. However, as asked by a previous poster, do they receive the same theoretical information as RN students do in their coursework? Do they know the rationales? This is not criticism, it is simply admitting my lack of knowledge of the military members' training.

regards from a military brat,

eltrip

Have recently graduated from school, and am interested in what requirements there are in changing license state to state. Will take state boards in Tn. but will be moving to Tx. in near future. Any info appreciated.

No One Should Be Able To Be Grandfather In As An Rn Without The Theory Behind It. I Was A Naval Nurse In Greatlakes But We Where Lacking In The Reasons Why We Do Something Compare To Just Learn The Skills And Do It This Way Mentality. Mash Is One Thing But Taking Care Of My Love One Is Amother Thing. I Remember When They Where Trying To Faze Out The Lpn' In The 80's And Would Not Grandfather Them In And That Is No Different Then What This Bill Is Trying To Do. Sorry I Just Speak My Mine From Experience.

No One Should Be Able To Be Grandfather In As An Rn Without The Theory Behind It. I Was A Naval Nurse In Greatlakes But We Where Lacking In The Reasons Why We Do Something Compare To Just Learn The Skills And Do It This Way Mentality. Mash Is One Thing But Taking Care Of My Love One Is Amother Thing. I Remember When They Where Trying To Faze Out The Lpn' In The 80's And Would Not Grandfather Them In And That Is No Different Then What This Bill Is Trying To Do. Sorry I Just Speak My Mine From Experience.

I guess the issue about grandfathering in certain specialists is not whether the person can perform hands on skills in an expert manner, but if that person is a well-rounded clinician. To me this is someone that can not only assess, plan, intervene, implement, evaluate, but someone that can coordinate, advocate, navigate, instruct, teach, educate, advise, coach, and so on. Wonder how the bill was voted last year?