Nurse and EMT???

[mmmRN]

HR at the hospital I work at told me that, according to the Illinois Nurse Practice Act, a person working as an R.N. cannot work as a CNA, PCT, or ER tech as well. Is it different for EMT-B and paramedics? I have read threads where people say that they work as both a R.N. and a paramedic. I live in Illinois, I don't know if it varies from state to state. Is this allowed by the Illinois Nurse Practice Act?

I would really appreciate some clarification. Thank you.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

call the illinois board of nursing on monday morning. i am sure they will be able to tell you.

[naysando]

I believe the reasoning here is you have an obligation to act within your scope of practice. That is why a dr/nurse would not be able to work as a cna- they just wouldn't be able to maintain that lower level functioning. Also there is massive conflict- if a nurse works as a cna and a patient requires nursing level care- you as a nurse have to act- however the facility only employees you/covers you for the job your hired for- massive conflict! An example: I was an emt-b. I legally had an obligation to perform that level of care. I worked in a nursing home- for 1 day- trying to get my cna when a patient fell. I started assessing the pt (he was bleeding so I got some gauze) and called his nurse. I then got yelled at for touching the pt at all because as far as they were concerned I didn't have that right. I had a legal obligation according to my emt license but the facility had different legal responsibilities.