Please help me with this because I think it is a bit hinky

Nickle · Sep 16, 2005

Needs Help, I agree. I'm the LPN who posted that at my facility, the ICU CNAs check blood sugars from art lines. That just totally freaks me out and if they asked me to do it, I would flat refuse. I personally don't think any CNA or LPN should touch a central line. But perhaps they do it other places as well. We just passed our JCAHO survey, so apparently somehow it's allowed.

OP, are you also a CNA as well as clerk? Do the CNAs in the ICU there normally do these glucose checks from art lines? And are they doing it only after special training, or just informal, on the job "let me show you how" demos?

Anything you are uncomfortable with, REFUSE on the grounds that it's not in your job description, not within your scope of practice (you don't even have a scope of practice if you're not licensed!), and you haven't been trained.

If you aren't a CNA, they shouldn't be asking you to lay hands on patients as for bed baths. That said, here they required all the unit clerks to go through CNA training in order to keep their jobs. Have your employers asked you to do the same? Even so, our clerks are never asked to provide direct patient care.

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Sep 16, 2005

Agree with above posters....way out of scope of practice. CALL your state BON for answers and for direction. Present your situation and ask for WHO (in the scope of nursing practice) it authorizes for such practice and who are NOT authorized. Then present this to your employer. If you give them an inch, they will take a mile (corporate admin) for a dollar. But, is it worth putting you at legal risk...not to mention risking the safety of the patient? CALL your BON. Speak to a live person.

hipab4hands · Sep 16, 2005

I am currently working in a facility as a HUC and was recently told by my clinical leader that in the future I will be expected to do accu-checks, baths, etc. as if I were an aide. I am not real happy about this because I already have a full schedule with all the paperwork that has to be done. But, to keep the boss happy, I will comply.
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You shouldn't be doing any type of patient care, unless you have been trained by the hospital to perform these duties or have some type of certification. Stay away from the arterial line, unless you are 100% sure that your state permits you to do this and you have recieved training from the hospital .
I'm willing to bet that your boss wouldn't be supportive, if you made a mistake and caused injury to a patient. Just because your boss "asks" you do something , doesn't mean that it is appropriate or legal for you to do it . If you are uncomfortable with something, politely refuse and document your reasons for refusal.

Hoozdo, ADN · Sep 16, 2005

if were a nurse at your facility I would be a tad upset if you weren't at the desk doing your job and I had to end up answering phone calls and doing unit clerk work because you were off messing with a-lines doing accuchecks. As a nurse if I had a choice between doing accuchecks and answering phones while I try to chart.....the choice is accuchecks :)

grace90, LPN, LVN · Sep 16, 2005

(and by no means am I putting unit secretaries down, they are most definatly life savers). Rhonda RN

ITA!!! My hospital has one unit clerk to float all the floors except ER on 3rd shift (ER always has at least 1 of their own), so many times we end up putting in our own orders on the computer system, putting together our own charts of new admits, etc., because the 1 UC is so tied up. So I find unit clerks VERY valuable, helpful and huge time and headache savers! :flowersfo :redbeathe :kiss :)

Also, only IV team and CCU RN's are allowed to draw from art lines at our hospital. The floor RN's can't even do it without the specialized infusion nursing training.

grace90, LPN, LVN · Sep 16, 2005

if were a nurse at your facility I would be a tad upset if you weren't at the desk doing your job and I had to end up answering phone calls and doing unit clerk work because you were off messing with a-lines doing accuchecks. As a nurse if I had a choice between doing accuchecks and answering phones while I try to chart.....the choice is accuchecks :)

:yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat:

nytelytespn · Mar 25, 2006

Hey folks, just a bit of follow-up from my last post about the c-line draws: they fired me because I was being "argumentative" about doing aide work. I tried to reason out that I was NOT hired as an aide and they said that my job description had changed. Thanks a lot for the support.

SFCardiacRN · Mar 25, 2006

Hey folks, just a bit of follow-up from my last post about the c-line draws: they fired me because I was being "argumentative" about doing aide work. I tried to reason out that I was NOT hired as an aide and they said that my job description had changed. Thanks a lot for the support.

Now that you have nothing to lose...report them. Start with the BON, then JACHO & then HIPPA. You also might want to contact the local labor board. If it was an unlawful firing, there might be a "plum" somewhere down the road.

NurseDiva04 · Mar 25, 2006

Hey folks, just a bit of follow-up from my last post about the c-line draws: they fired me because I was being "argumentative" about doing aide work. I tried to reason out that I was NOT hired as an aide and they said that my job description had changed. Thanks a lot for the support.

That's messed up. I just started a CNA job at a hospital. Even though I am a nursing student, I have been told by Nursing Education, do not cross the line and do things I am not suppose to do, even if I know how to do it. I was suppose to be on orientation but went to work immediately. The 2nd day, I was asked to do a EKG, which is in my job description. However, I am suppose to be checked off by a nurse before performing one by myself. I told the nurse, "I can not do one until I am checked off by a nurse. I will observe one being done." She replied, "I don't know what you mean by that" and walked off; she knew what I meant. Again I told her I would like to observe her doing it. She told me "ok" but she did not call me.

P_RN, ADN, RN · Mar 25, 2006

I totally agree with Suzanne.Everybody else does it? It's the old "if everyone jumped off the bridge would you do it?"

As they say on Law and Order this is a slippery slope. Check sources and please don't do anything that will haunt you and come back and bite you in the ______.

Justhere, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2006

I'm an LPN and at our hospital LPNs can't even draw blood from Central Lines. We can give meds through them, but they won't let us draw blood. And I would never expect a HUC to draw from them, that is outragious. If something should happen you could be sued for nursing without a licenses and the charge nurse could be sued for delegating duties out of scope of practice for a HUC and she could lose her license for something that you did wrong.

speti4 · Mar 25, 2006

I refuse to do any procedure for which I am not properly trained for.

I keep in my work mailbox and also post on the wall in the nursing station a complete list of procedures that fall within my scope of practice. I get it from my licensing body and update as things change.

Our Unit Clerks are also LPNs this is so handy for cosigning insulins and warfarin. But they do it as a favor as it is not part of their duty. They have no nursing procedures within their scope of practice. Their nursing history makes them awesome at their job.