nursing scope of practice

[CVSDnurse]

The cardiac cath lab that I work in is looking into having cath lab staff use arterial closure devices and to perform suturing of arterial lines to skin to stabilize (single cutaneous loop suture) lines left in. Surrounding states (PA,MD) allow RN's to perform these duties after training by MD's.

When I spoke with secretary at the DE board of nursing, I requested copies of our state's practice guidelines. She informed me that no such documentation exists. I need to directly ask the executive director my question and she will tell me if it is or is not within the RN scope of practice.

Has anyone heard of this, not having written scope of practice guidelines? Any suggestions on what she may base her decisions on? Is the ANA the national authority for nursing?

thank you

[Cascadians]

Can you go to your next State Board of Nursing meeting and formally request an immediate review and publication of DESBN ruling RN written scope of practice guidelines regarding arterial closure devices and performance of arterial line suturing techniques? and training, by whom, how much, orientation length, and competency check-offs, etc required?

For safety and liability's sake, it seems a good practice to have written BoN guidelines in hand, along with their interpretation and case examples.

ioho hospitals short on staff will bend the loopholes as far as possible to get work done ... and then leave the staff in the lurch ...