Nurses and extubation

[Palpitations]

I would like to know if nurses or allowed to extubate patients without having the anesthesiologist around? Or if nurses have intubated patients without having and anesthesiologist around? Is a CRNA eligible to extubate and intubate without having a anesthesiologist around?

Thanks,

Melinda

[duckboy20]

Earle58- I would not even attempt to do so if I were you. You are definately not covered by the Good Samaritan Act. If you were to injure that person in any way you would be held legally responsible. The only thing you can do legally is the heimlich or CPR in that situation and wait for ambulance personnel.

[leslie :-D]

tell me about duckboy! i don't know why it was even taught to us but i don't think i've been in a restaurant since then.

[Anniekins]

In general, a great majority of our patients like to extubate themselves. :) We just go with the flow.....

Hahaha, thats funny, well not REALLY funny, but I can relate :chuckle Just when you think a patient would NEVER do it, it can happen.

In the cardiothoracic ICU where I am doing my critical care clinical at right now, the RT's primarily do all intubations and extubations. The do a great job! They come suction periodically, check sats constantly, ween the patients....etc. They are a HUGE help and asset to the unit!!

[NCgirl]

For clarification, most flight nurses can intubate outside the facility because they are also EMT-P.

[CHIRN]

That's what restraints are for!!! The majority of our intubated patient's get restrained until they prove they won't extubate themselves.

Oh, we retrain ALL of our intubated patients. But they never seem to amaze me how they can contort their bodies to just the right position where that tube is in reach. Either that, or they simply cough and cough until...whammo...out ya go!!!!

[CHIRN]

Retrain...I meanst restrain...although the other would be helpful too.

[CougRN]

We extubate patients often in the PACU and ICU. A previous poster stated it's not within our scope of practice to intubate. It actually is but I wouldn't want to with the limited training I have had. ACLS teaches us to intubate because in an absolute emergency it can be done. But I've never been in a code that didn't have a doctor in it so it has never come up. Don't know what the liability would be and i don't want to find out.

[mattsmom81]

All I had to see was my first major subq air pop up, (making my female patient look like a swollen toad with torpedo breasts ) following an intubation to realize I have enough liability, thankyouverymuch, I will let the docs or CRNA's intubate. Families NEVER forget that massive subQ air...i don't have enough Liability Insurance, and thats why docs make the big bucks.