All Lpn's Please Read

Nurses LPN/LVN

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Hello,

My 226 bed acute care hospital has formed a committee as we are going to re-introduce LPN's on the med-surg floors. The committee is looking at how we are going to utilize the LPN's.

SO, would you please tell me--if you work in a hospital--what exactly your duties are and what you as an LPN are and aren't allowed to do. I realize that the LPN/LVN scope of practice varies by state, I am in Northeast Ohio.

I am specifically interested in Nurse- patient ratio for the LPN in your facility and any other infor mation you can provide will be helpful.

Personally, I am looking forward to working side by side with the LPN's and feel that it was a grave mistake that a lot of hospitals--especially in this area of the country-that they were phased out of the acute care setting.

Thank you for your help!

Kelly:)

Hey! Everyone, calm down. We are all in this together. I do think we all have to take a step back and realize that while laws and policies are each specific to the state/ province and facility one is working in, they are there to protect the patient first and foremost. We as nurses have to be accountable to the public whom we serve. Greyt... I do not think that in performing one's duties we should be able to sit back and say... I'm not going to do that, unless it is outside one's scope of practice. We are supposed to be accountable for our own practice, that's what makes us self regulating in the first place. Lynni... I think that you have had to perform in a highly stressful environment. I choose not to work in emerg and here in British Columbia we do not deal with IV push meds, etc. If I was to choose to work in your state thaen I wouldn't be able to practice there until I met the criteria for practice. I wouldn't dare dream of doing some of the duties you have unless I was certified to perform such tasks. I admire the fact that you have had these great experiences, but you did seem a little full of yourself when describing them. Maybe just a bad perception for those reading your original post. I wish you well, but only you can be accountable whe it really counts. You know that!

Specializes in med surg, ed, icu.

I am a LPN who works in a hospital. We pass all medicines except IV medications. We do patient care and chart on our patients. I work night shift so the nurses on that shift can take up to 7 patients at one time. We have a team leader who an RN who does the medications and helps out when needed if she has time. She is also the one who is responsible for calling the doctor if needed, although we LPN's are allowed to call the intern on duty at night. The other shift LPN's take only 6 patients a piece. We also note orders off. We are permitted to start IV's if we have been certified. We are not allowed to take pediatric patients that are very young and have IV's. The pediatricians don't think we have enough knowledge to care for the kids but that is slowly changing due to the shortage of RN's. I hope this helps.

okay guys... here goes...

As with anything... I know we are some of the most strong willed people knowed to mankind....

Therefore, when we feel strongly about something... we tend to speak out about it...

BUT... as with all things,

We MUST UTILIZE discrection about what we say HERE...

Remember:

Treat this service as if you were talking to a group of people out of work...mind what you say....

AKA... in the words of my mother...

PLAY NICE.

Any questions, or comments, PM me, or nur20 or brian, we'll be more than happy to field them.

Enough Said...

--Barbara

LynniNurse.......first of all, I'm darn proud of what I do, as I'm sure you are too. Bite you?....not for a million. Move to Tenn???? NEVER!!! Not if they allow LPN's to do 'whatever'.....

The NATIONAL Nursing Regs, which governs LPN's as well, would love to differ with you too. They make the rules for the nursing body as a whole, not just state to state. Like I said, if your facility is letting YOU, a lic. prof. nurse.....LPN, push IV meds and administer cardiac meds......they are way over the line. I'm also a paralegal and know the law. I just hope you carry !

Janice.....what makes you think I 'sit back and decide what I'm going to do as a nurse? Maybe I misunderstood your comment????

I do use my judgment....peoples lives are at stake here. If I'm asked to do something that I KNOW is not legally allowed, I won't do it, even if I know how to. We LPN's are not given the credit we deserve. Most of us can 'nurse' circles around RN's, but we still need to realize that we are governed by rules and regs......just make sure you know what they are and follow them, even if your 'facility' allows you to 'do certian things'......think about it!

Greyt: Sorry if there was a misunderstanding- All I meant was that no matter what your duties may be, you have to know you are able to perform them to the best of your ability and you have to know when something is way over your head or outside your scope of practice. Part of being self regulating is knowing your limitations either those imposed by the lawsgoverning your practice or those that may limit you at the facility you may work in.

Smile!!! and have a great day:D :D :D

Janice:p Gotcha, understand where your coming from. What is so sad, is that there are alot of nurses out there that will do or try anything.....it's an 'ego' thing. They don't realize, or care that lives are in the balance.....THEIR balance!

I worked with a nurse that charted she hung IV antibiotics and didn't (they were still stapled shut in the bag from Pharm), she with-held GT feedings, causing weightloss, and even went as far as un clogging a GT with a coat hanger from the closet!!!!! She was reported and the facility did nothing. State was called in, they were paid off by the facility. They keep here because she is a RN and they are short of RN's. I'm not saying she is a 'killer'....but patients have passed on her shift that others thought suspicious.

We need to realize that we are responsible for others lives.....is that not the most terrifying and yet the most awesome things? I absolutely LOVE my career. Sometimes it drives me nutts, but I still love it.

Nurses.....PLEASE make sure you are practing UNDER the law, both for your state/facility AND the National Nursing Act. Regardless of what your state/facility allows, it may not be legal. Your facility is not the law. Double check if your not sure. I guarentee that if it came down to it, your facility would 'play dumb' and implicate YOU, saving their own butts!! I know that some of the 'nursing procedures' that Lynni are NOT legal for LPN's. Cover your self Please!!!!!!!! Double check the standards!

hey everybody, this is totally off the subject (or the fight, it looks like)...don't you all think it's amazing how scope of practice varies from state to state? i live in colorado and am iv cert lpn. i can do fluids, electrolytes, vitamins, and antibiotics (no other drugs)...no push, no blood. i think it's funny that there is no 'standard' nationally, that every state's different. don't you think there should be a national standard? and how long was your lpn program to allow you to be certified to do all those things? just wondering if it was a lot longer than mine or what...:confused:

I noticed you were from ohio , I just completed my IV cert 6 months ago I still have my course reveiw papers about LPNs and what we can and cannot do if you would like these papers I would be more then glad to fax them to you . I work agency in 3 different hosp each one of them is set up differently I encourage you that LPNs be alowed to do as much as they can , to help take the work load off the RNs and to keep the hosp flowing with LPNs It could help with the staffing shortage in your hosp :eek:

oh, one more thing I enjoy working at the hosp that treats me like a nurse and not the one that traets me like a burdensome lpn that the rns have to cover for , and also have been taking doctors oders off P.O. sheets for 16 years and now that i work for the hospitals I suddenly get stupid and cant write anymore !!!NOT !!!! You will have happier empoyees if they feel that they are taking care of their patients and not just taking up space like I do when I work at one of the hospitals I work at. Needless to say I dont work there often.;)

Sorry , for the spelling it is after my bedtime:D

I have been an LPN for one year at a community hospital in West Michigan on the telemetry/CCU floor. Usually our RN/LPN team takes 5-7 pts. The RN will take one or two to assess and do meds, and she does all the care plans. The RN takes phone and verbal orders, and notes all orders on the chart. As the LPN, I will assess my pts, handle their meds except for IVP and central line meds.

I also document education done for pts. The RN does the initial assessment and profile. LPN's may give IM's and SQ's and narcotics. We are not to flush central lines or PICCs, nor initiate blood.

We are not supposed to hang medicated drips such as Heparin, Nitro, Insulin, Primacor, etc. Other piggybacks are OK for us to hang.

Some of us take the 'tag team' approach and do assessments together, so the RN can at least see the pts she doesn't have, and we agree on lung sounds, etc.

Hope this helps! Any other questions, email me.

Penney :p

Im an LPN,currently in school for RN. I work on a busy telemetry floor.The nurse practice act varies greatly from state to state,as I recently found out after moving.I can do almosteverything the RN does,with exception only of IV push,Conscious sedation and hang blood.At the hospital I am at now,I am not allowed to even verify the blood.Honestly,Im glad I cant do the pushes yet,Lopressor scares me and the other cardiac pushes as well. even though the RNs communicate with the monitoe tech before,during and after the push,I have witnessed some very scary moments, and dont want to take that responsabilty on until I graduate and am ACLS cerified.

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