Janice8551

Hi Mark! Call the College of LPNs to see what they say. The Practice Consultants can answer your questions, and they are LPNs themselves. Please remember that LPN practice looks different in BC than it does in Alberta, so have a discussion with someone where you can get some context for your answers. Good Luck!

Hello Fiona- Where in BC are you working and where can I apply to work alongside you? Sounds like a great job!

Hi all! You could turn or prop the person up on their side a little and that way you could put it either coming out in front of them or coming out behind them. That way they won't be lying on it either way!

Greyt: Sorry if there was a misunderstanding- All I meant was that no matter what your duties may be, you have to know you are able to perform them to the best of your ability and you have to know when something is way over your head or outside your scope of practice. Part of being self regulating is knowing your limitations either those imposed by the lawsgoverning your practice or those that may limit you at the facility you may work in. Smile!!! and have a great day:D :D

Hey! Everyone, calm down. We are all in this together. I do think we all have to take a step back and realize that while laws and policies are each specific to the state/ province and facility one is working in, they are there to protect the patient first and foremost. We as nurses have to be accountable to the public whom we serve. Greyt... I do not think that in performing one's duties we should be able to sit back and say... I'm not going to do that, unless it is outside one's scope of practice. We are supposed to be accountable for our own practice, that's what makes us self regulating in the first place. Lynni... I think that you have had to perform in a highly stressful environment. I choose not to work in emerg and here in British Columbia we do not deal with IV push meds, etc. If I was to choose to work in your state thaen I wouldn't be able to practice there until I met the criteria for practice. I wouldn't dare dream of doing some of the duties you have unless I was certified to perform such tasks. I admire the fact that you have had these great experiences, but you did seem a little full of yourself when describing them. Maybe just a bad perception for those reading your original post. I wish you well, but only you can be accountable whe it really counts. You know that!

Lynninurse.. You, my dear, sound a little bitter? I agree with you that it doesn't matter what initials are behind a person's name, as long as they look out for their own practice. But, as "Nurses" we look out for each other. We care for patients TOGETHER! I am an LPN who works in partnership with an RN. We care for patients together. If she misses something, I pick up on it. There is no blame for errors unless the error made falls outside my scope. I know some RN's who could learn a thing or two from us more seasoned LPN's, but we all had to start somewhere, an d I for one am extremely glad to have the kind of nursing colleagues I do. I love nursing as a career. I wouldn't trade it for the world, and I wouldn't trade where I work either.:)

I am here in British Columbia. Vancouver/ Victoria area to be specific. I work in a community acute care hospital on a medical floor. I am also the LPN practice Leader there. We have LPN's working in all areas of the hospital except psych and OR/PAR. The hospital works on a team nursing approach- 1 Rn gives meds for 8 patients, gives direct care for 4 patients and the LPN gives care for 4 patients while her Rn does the meds for her patients. The only floor that takes a different approach, is the floor I work on- 3South. We use a paired caring model. One RN and one LPN work in a team- side by side. We care, together for 8 or 9 patients on dayshift and on nights, we take 13 or 14 patients. As the RN does the meds for the patients, the LPN will pick up other things, like all of the glucs. We both do vitals, and we both do treatments for the patients. The LPN scope of practice overlaps with the RN one by as much as 70% in some cases. Working in a paired caring model enables the patient to have some continutiy, just as it does for the pair of nurses caring for those patients. When we developed our floor, about 10 years ago, we posted job lines in pairs, one RN+LPN for each rotation. We signed up to work TOGETHER! I have been with my RN partner since day one. We know how each other works, and she will pick up what I miss just as I will pick up on what she's missed. The patients get excellent care and we are on top of our practice. I don't start IV's or draw blood, but I do glucometer testing. LPN's are trained to administer insulin, heparin and all meds except narcotics. As far as skill go, LPN's remove NG's and corpak feeding tubes. We maintain IV's and maintain and initiate enteral feeds. We remove IV's and saline locks. We prep patients for tests and surgical procedures. We also preceptor graduating LPN students. LPN's are an integral part of the nursing team in our hospital. I've been here for 13 years and have done it all- primary care nursing, team nursing, and paired caring nursing. The last, by far, is the best for everybody- nurses, patients and families, and then the system, in general. We roll with the punches so to speak. We are able to adapt to anything, and in fact we have! E-mail me if you'd like more info.:)

On the floor I work on, a busy acute medical floor, we follow the "paired caring" model. Here we work in pairs- 1RNand 1LPN. They work TOGETHER to provide care to patients. As our skills and scope of practice overlap as much as 70% in some cases, we SHARE the duties whenever possible. Not so much delegation as there is discussion about who'll do what. The only way to make it all work is to talk and work out your care plan together for the shift. The best thing is is that you have a regular partner and you get to know each other very well. You get to know how each other work, and in some cases, you can almost read each others' minds. My Rn picks up on things I might have missed, and I pick up on things my RN might have missed! It has worked well for us. We always seem able to adapt because we can pick up the slack as needed. WE MAKE IT WORK, AND WORK WELL!!!:)