MEL55

Fiona An outside Agency LPN is covered under her Agency RN. She can come into the Day Center & do the tubes and go.When the Arc RN resigns...there is no RN.

Do your clients live there, where you work? The clients I deal with don't live in the Center I work in. It's a Day Center that the clients come in a school bus to mon. thru fri., & then go home... to the Group Home they live in, or to their families or home to a Provider/Caregiver

Thanx for the feedback. Just found out today the way they're getting around it untill they can hire the RN is get an outside agency LPN to come in daily & pay her to do the skilled care part(tube feedings... meds through the tubes & hydrations)She's covered by her agency, so no need for me to worry. The Arc agency is willing to keep me aboard while paying the outside agency to bring their LPN in, & I'll do the rest of my duties there which pretty much is just overseeing the health & safety of the 20 clients we serve, keep medical charts updated, and help the techs out. Plus... I won't need coverage if I want to take a vacation day... have to call out sick.... there's an LPN there from the outside agency doing all the tubes & meds! That's cool because I love the population I work with & I socialize with them as if they were my friends... neighbors. They're severely developmentally disabled, but they sure can smile & laugh knowing they're loved & cared for while at our Program!

Hi all I posted this in another forum... I don't remember which one, but got only one response & it was kinda vague, so I wanted to post it here. I'm an LPN working for the Arc(association of retarded citizens), in their Special Needs Day Program. Here we have maintenance therapy(OT & PT & Speech Therapy services) along with technicians, caring for their needs. (feeding, changing, etc...along with the therapists under the supervision of a Center Supervisor. The agency also ,about 5 yrs ago, hired an RN because they wanted to take in more skilled care clients(G tubes), and also have her work out in the field visiting the group homes if there were any medical issues( going to the hospitals to act as a liason etc...) The Arc always had an LPN on staff, even before the RN came aboard, but there were no G tubes, so there was no skilled nursing involved, & the LPN, from what I was told, did meds and took on 3 clients to provide care for. Since I have been working there, I have had my RN there. Her office was in our building, & if she were out in the field, or on vacation... she was always a phone call away.(I assumed this was OK,being new to this field of nursing, & not knowing the legal ramifications of an LPN working skilled care if an RN were not available.) My RN is resigning her position, & there is noone to take her place. They are advertising for a full time RN, but in the case that noone is hired by the time she leaves..... where does that leave me, in regards to performing skilled care(tube feedings, hydration & meds through a G tube?) My RN states things are really so unclear with her also, a reason why she is resigning. She does though want to help me in my dilemna before she goes as much as she can. She says she will contact an outside Nursing Agency, and ask them if they have an RN that can come to the Center I work at from 10 AM until 2 PM to oversee my skilled care.After 2 PM there is no more skilled care I do, mostly paper work, & oversee the health & safety of the clients while there are at Program. My question is... what are the legalities involved? I was told by the Program Supervisor(who is my boss also, along with my RN as my boss),not to worry. Not to worry! She has no license to worry about,nor does her position require a college degree. I have my license to cover. No one else with the Arc is a medical professional that I can go to for advice. Do I tell the Director of the Arc Agency I cannot work until they get an RN hired? I don't know. There is nothing written in their policy & procedure manuals about my situation. If you need anymore info let me know. I do know there is an RN that works with DDD,but the Arc isn't really associated with DDD, even though we have to follow their guidelines plus our own.(My RN told me the DDD nurse couldn't & wouldn't put his license on the line for the Arc, & even told her she was crazy for accepting the position as the Arc Agency RN. Let me know what you guys think of this mess I'm in... I don't want to jepordize my license. The Arc is very loosely run & it is non profit. I do love the job I have now, & would hate to resign my position. Thanx !

Thank you for the clarification. My concern lays in the fact that I work in a Special Needs day program with the severly developmentally disabled giving medications and also G-tube feedings (and administering medication through the G-tubes), and once our agency RN resigns....am I still legally able to perform my duties if they have not hired an RN for the agency. I will check with NJ's State Board of Nursing and Practice Act to make myself knowledgable. Thank you again for your reply

Hi all Newbie here Got a question... I have been working in a Special Needs day program for going on 3 years now. I am the only LPN in the whole agency that I work with. There is one RN that has an office in my building, and I was told I need her to work as an LPN because LPN's have to work under an RN's license. She is resigning her position in a few weeks, and I'm wondering where that leaves me, working in a program where I do some skilled nursing. The RN told me she would be calling the contract nursing agency that we use when I needed coverage for sick days... vacation days.... in the past, and asking them to provide our agency with a RN to work in our facility until a new RN is hired. This is where I am left scratching my head. If my agency gets an RN to come to our Center until a new RN is hired... Isn't she, & her agency putting themselves at risk? If, god forbid, a client's family member were wanting to sue for whatever reason, it's that RN's license, plus that agency, along with my license that gets dragged into the dirt? My Program supervisor, who is not a medical person, has a "don't worry about it" attitude. Of course I will worry about it because I have the license at stake. Unless laws have changed, can I work without an RN working for our agency? There is a DDD nurse, but our Agency isn't under DDD exactly. We are a non profit organization that has to follow DDD guidlines, along with our agency's guidelines. Nothing is clearly written anywhere the situation I am in. Hope I have explained myself clearly Could you tell me what I need to know to approach the Agency I work for, and let them know I know the laws governing my license, & I cannot settle for anything less. Thanx