do you let unlicensed staff do "RN" things ?

[labrador4122]

do you let unlicensed assistive personel do things that rn is supposed to do, if you know they are going to nursing school, or gradutated from nursing school.

i am asking, because when i was a cna, many rns who trusted me, asked me all the time "you want to put in this foley, you are in nursing school... it's a good practice"

but my answer was always the same "oh no, i am very scared to do that! i would rather watch you do it, and just explain to me what you are doing"

and that was when i wasn't in nursing school!

and once i got to nursing school, they did the same thing and again i would answer them like that, or i would say "nope, i don't get paid extra to do that! lol"

and now that i am an rn, i realize how important it is to do things myself-, to delegate correctly according to the title of the job, to make sure that my meds are given if i have an lpn, because i am responsible, and i would get in trouble if a med is not given, even if i have lpn, and to make sure to follow hospital policy. there is a list of the things that a cna can do.

anyways, i was thinking about that today, because if those nurses used to ask me when i was a student, i am sure that they used to ask other cna's the same thing. and i am wondering if the other cna's took up on the offers.

[labrador4122, RN]

I was a nurse intern for a year before I graduated, and I worked a LOT, 30-40 hrs per week. So yes, I was hit up all the time by nurses wanting me to give medicines, do accuchecks (only licensed personnel can do those at my hospital), insert foleys, the list goes on and on. When I first started, I would do it, because I was naive and didn't want to make the nurses dislike me, and I heard how they talked about the other interns who wouldn't "help", as they put it ("So-and-So is no help at all, she won't even put on a nitro patch!" etc.) But the longer I worked there, the more I realized that I didn't really care whether they liked me or not, and if I got caught doing something I shouldn't be and was fired as an intern, I would sure never get a job there after I graduated, so I started saying no. It took a huge weight off my shoulders.

I've been an RN for only 3 months, but I've never asked any CNA or intern to do anything they can't... and never will. It's not fair to them and I'm certainly not risking my license. They are enough help to me just doing what their job entails.

same here!

Now that I am an RN and from time to time I have to go to PICU to get things, they look at me like as if they have never seen me before (the employees there),

because I never did things I wasn't supposed to do!!! I never inserted foleys or got blood gas for them like other nursing assistants.

if we are nursing assistants, we can't do anything, unless we are there as nursing students and with supervision.

I can't believe the RN would trust someone just because they are in nursing school.

i knew I would get my practice once I would start working. I can do a lot of things, but I have not started IV's yet, but I will once I get trained to do so, but I will certainly not attempt if I have not had the class.

[labrador4122, RN]

I work as a nurse tech and we are allowed to start IVs, cath patients, sterile dressing changes, ETT suctioning, ABGs, accuchecks, central line/art line blood draws, postmortem care, etc. Basically anything we have been checked off in school to do.

We can't give medicines or access the accudose or give blood products, can't chart anything subjective, and even though we can assess our patients the RN has to assess as well and chart her/his assessment....we mainly do it for the practice/learning.

That is part of our job description and part of the practice act in my state. Of course it is all under the supervision of the RN we are assigned with. I don't work as a CNA and if I did my scope of practice would be different.

http://www.ok.gov/nursing/ed-guide.pdf

"Nurse Technician and the Practical Nurse Technician are allowed to perform all

duties of a nursing assistant, as well as other technical skills which have been learned

in a nursing education program and for which competency has been previously

demonstrated under the supervision of a faculty member."

wow you are allowed to do a lot!!!!!!!!!!

the cna's are not allowed to do anything here.

I'm glad because for $9/hr is not worth it.

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Nope.

Once I became an RN, I began to see how very unaware I was of the skills and knowledge that I lacked as a nurse's aide, and I began to be very protective of the responsibility that nurses have.

We have assessment skills, education, and critical thinking skills that CNAs, PCTs, and students lack. In the long run, the patient can suffer from that lack.

So, no, I believe that the de-skilling of nursing (which is really what this issue is all about) is ultimately doing a disservice to the patient and the profession.

[flyakite80]

I am a nursing student who works as a unit secretary and there have been many times I was offered the opportunity to do a nursing task by nurses that I work with. I have turned it down every time - I tell them I don't want to get them in trouble by doing something completely out of the realm of my own job responsibilities and god forbid something should go wrong. It's not worth it.

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

When I worked in adult med-surg as a PCT I had several nurses that offered to let me put foleys in. I always jumped on this opportunity, and the nurse was always standing right there during the procedure. One nurse let me give an enema (again, constant supervision). The PCT's on my floor regularly did non-sterile dressing changes (yes, it was an RN's responsibility). Do I think I'll let PCT's do similiar such tasks once I'm a nurse, I don't know. But I will gladly grab them to come watch if anything interesting is goin on.

BTW: at my current PCT job hospital policy is that PCT's are allowed to do phlebotomy, put foleys in, hang TPN and lipids, suction, and even trach care. I personally, as a student, like PCT's being allowed to have more responsibility like this, and yes, we are properly trained.