Pulling chest tubes..

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Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU~CCRN,CNRN.

Wondering what your facility's policy on pulling chest tubes? Is this something the RN does at your facility?

The reason I'm asking is because it's being done at my facility, and in all my years of experience, not once have I pulled a chest tube (on purpose, that is?!:chuckle )

There's also the practice of pulling pacer wires. Can't seem to wrap my mind around it. The last facility I worked in, a Level I trauma center, forbid any of these practices...

Anyone got some input on this?

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Specializes in ICU, PICU, Orthopaedics, Spinal.

Yep, in my unit CCRN's can pull chest tubes, its one of the competencies we have to complete as part of the CCRN course. RN's can pull chest tubes if supervised by a CCRN. :)

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Hey Y'all

I have had the same sort of experience in shifting from level 1/referral-center hospitals to smaller community hospitals; that in the smaller facility, nurses actually do 'more stuff' like DCing chest tubes. I realized that the big trauma centers were teaching hospitals, so it is easier for them to designate certain tasks to interns, residents, fellows and etc.

Papaw John

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Specializes in cardiac/critical care/ informatics.

We have a competency for pulling chest tubes, and pacing wires. I work on a step down unit and we have pulled them forever. For awhile someone decided we could only pull chest tubes on our cabg's and not our thoracotomy's the PA's pulled them and there was an increase in pneumos now we pull everything.

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Wondering what your facility's policy on pulling chest tubes? Is this something the RN does at your facility?

The reason I'm asking is because it's being done at my facility, and in all my years of experience, not once have I pulled a chest tube (on purpose, that is?!:chuckle )

There's also the practice of pulling pacer wires. Can't seem to wrap my mind around it. The last facility I worked in, a Level I trauma center, forbid any of these practices...

Anyone got some input on this?

When I worked in the ICU (at a large teaching facility) the RNs pulled chest tubes and pacer wires. No big deal. Our hospital was a surgical factory, and to wait for the residents to come around would have taken forever, so they taught us how to safely do it.

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Specializes in ICU, Education.

i think in our CVICU if you have gone through competancies the nurse can pull mediastinal tubes but not pleural tubes

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RN's pull all chest tubes at my facility.

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Specializes in CIC, CVICU, MSICU, NeuroICU.

I work in 20 bed CCU/CVICU, the RN pull pacer wires and mediastinal tube but certainly not pleural chest tube. This is a level 2 trauma center with no intern or resident

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We don't pull anything in my unit. The surgeons or their nurses do it. You have to have some type of certification I think to do it (it may be the CCRN like someone else said in my state, I'm not sure). We have a few nurses who do have the credentials, but even they let the surgeons nurses do it.

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