Nursing intervention~yes or no??

[hairtocare]

Okay, I'm a student RN. Long story short, we were told that if a patient is in hypovolemic shock, a RN can increase IV fluids immediately without obtaining a doctors order first. Is this true? I am in PA, if that makes a difference.

This was worded as a test question and increasing the IV flow rate, monitoring output and two other answers were available choices. We were confused because the question was worded as "What is the first NURSING INTERVENTION", we were under the impression that increasing the IV flow was not a nursing intervention~~~~when questioned, the instructor stated we "grow up" and said that yes, in an emergency situation (as this) we are able to increase IV Flow. Here's the nitch, another instructor said that was incorrect~~~~~

Please help, we are confused!

[tk3100]

I personally would, if lungs are clear and remain so. I don't know that I would have felt comfortable doing so as a new nurse. Years in ICU taught me, however, that in a crunch you do whatever needs to be done and obtain orders later. As a nursing instructor, I would probably say that it is not a Nursing intervention.

[fgoff]

iv flow rates are a medical order, so unless i have a p&p or or prn order (or a very go relationship with the md,who would cover me) i would not. i would have the patient supine and if not contraindicated

would place in trendelenberg (sp).

[jjjoy, LPN]

Some nursing test questions are worse than useless. This sounds like one of them. You may not get the points you may rightly deserve but hopefully you will learn some good stuff from the responses to your question about it. : )

[MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN]

Unless your test was specifically on emergency nursing as in trauma or an ED, I have to agree with the others. Supine, trendelenberg positioning.....truthfully, I work in ER....I would be popping in additional lines and fluids would be wide open, but then again my doc is right there.

This test doesn't sound fair....status quo for nursing instructors.

Maisy;)

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

That is most definitely not a nursing intervention.

Now, an experienced nurse whose doctors trust her and will back up her nursing judgment and her actions with orders is something else entirely. But this is most emphatically NOT a nursing intervention. Pushing fluid PO is.