LPNs in ICUs titrating drips

[athena55]

Hello Everyone

I work in a Military medical center and we utilize LPNs in our burn unit but the rumor mill has churned out that in the near future only military LPNs will be hired.

My question is:

How many LPNs/LVNs are currently working in an ICU and - if you are, do you titrate drips such as levophed, vasopressin, dopamine, lidocaine, etc.?

If you DO titrate drips, were you certified to do so? Do you take an annual in-house certification exam that "allows" you to titrate the above mentioned drips?

[I am trying to do research and justify keeping our LPNs in the burn unit]

Thank you all for reading this and thank you for your responses.

athena

[HazelLPN, LPN]

Practicing without formal education is both good and bad... Good for you to have learned a skill that many RN's have problems understanding... But on the other hand nursing itself is evidence based practice and had been for a long time... It's what brought nursing to what it is today... When you teach yourself a skill you really don't know if your skill is being taught the best way possible to provide the best patient outcomes... I encourage everyone to go to school and actually learn and study theory behind what you are practicing... I work ICU and ED and obtaining my Doctor of Nursing Practice from University of San Francisco... I have to say school has given me a better understanding of what nursing was and how nursing came to be where it's at now... Plus studies have showed that formal education plays a big part of creating better patient outcomes... When I graduate with my DNP I would have had over 9 years of being in school while learning and studying my profession as a nurse... Working for years can't replace education... That's why it's not practiced here... No one can work in the hospital for a long period of time and call themselves a nurse or a doctor just because of work experience... Education never stops because one can continue to learn in school... But there is only so much you can learn on the job... Because unfortunately jobs do require a person to have so much education first then they look at experience... Because 30 years of being a LPN will never equal to an RN... But I do agree with you... There are RN's that are really bad but they are outliers and do not represent the majority... Here is an interesting fact 10% of all nurses hold a graduate degree and less than 1% hold a doctorate... Education has given opportunities for nurses to practice independently and evolve a nurse to open their own clinics and become primary care providers... And that could never happen without education... Well good luck to you and thank you for your years of dedication in helping and caring for others...

I never taught myself how to titrate a drip, I was trained on the job. Part of that includes in service training, reading and learning on your, asking questions, and putting the information into practice with a good understanding of the pathway of the drug and its effect on the body. That's probably how most nurses learn to maintain critical care drips.... by informal education...not in nursing school. I certainly didn't learn how to titrate a drip in school because IV therapy was still the function of the docs at that time. However, we somehow managed to do it when the time came...though informal education. In nursing, everyone's formal education becomes obsolete if you stick around long enough.

Nurses who have less formal education CAN and DO compensate for it by the informal education that we continue to receive on the job that is not from school. I'm not saying formal education isn't important. I tell all young people to get that BSN...but I'm quick to point out that it won't make you a better nurse than the veteran diploma RN or LPN who's been working since you were in diapers and who had a wealth of knowledge that isn't learned in school.

Back to the topic at hand.....LPNs who titrate drips or who work in critical care units are the exception to the rule but there are states and facilities where they are functioning within their scopes of practice and do an excellent job. I managed to do it very well, as did my LPN colleagues, despite what studies about patient outcomes may say about how LPNs or even diploma RNs should be put out to pasture because their lack of formal education is so profound that no amount of informal education can compensate for it. These studies, designed in partial fulfillment of the MSN or PhD are often plagued by poor research methods, bias and/or misuse of stats and /or coding if qualitative techniques are used. If the BSN is to be the entry into nursing, so be it...its good for the reputation of the profession and may attract better quality of nursing students, which sadly had been on the decline for many years.

I don't need luck at this stage. I had a wonderful career. You are the one who will need the luck as you have a long way to go and some lofty goals you wish to obtain.

Best to you,

Mrs H.

[Nienna Celebrindal]

In Florida I could do almost anything with I meds after getting I certified and taking an extra class (it was several weeks long and then lots of being double checked by an RN after) but there was a list of drugs I could not use.