Questions about Texas LVN Scope of Practice

[kat7ap]

Hello fellow Texas nurses! I am moving back to Texas in one week now from Washington state. I originally was licensed in Texas and worked LTC for a few months and moved out of state, so now I need a refresher. My questions are (I realize these may differ from facility to facility):

What drugs are LVNs permitted to give IVP?

Are LVNs allowed to set up and manage PCAs?

In acute care, do LVNs do their own assessments? Do RNs cosign?

Thanks!

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

I don't know the answers to your questions, but just wanted to welcome you back to God's Country. :)

[RN1989]

You need to go to the BON site to get the full rules that the Board uses. TX has been working on a nurse practice act for LVNS due to wide variations in what is allowed and LVNs being used as RNs when it is inappropriate and employers are just looking to save a buck.

As a general rule, LVNs can do what they are trained on and have evaluated competencies for. It us up to the individual facility to decide on what LVNs can/can't do.

An RN must perform any initial admisstion assessment. Hospitalized pts must have an RN assessment at least once every 24 hours. It is not appropriate to simply sign off on an assessment that an LVN has completed. Do not let an RN talk you into this - big trouble for that.

Some facilities allow LVNs to give IVPs, some don't. Same with PCAs.

You should get the list of dos/don'ts in your facility's orientation. If you don't, look up the policies for yourself to make sure you don't make a booboo. The hospital and other nurses have no problems hanging you out to dry if it saves their butts. Make sure you are informed.

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

this right here is just about it. i can tell the op this that in the hospital lvn's are not allowed to do the initial assessments (bon thing) but are allowed to follow up with with daily assessments. ltc is a completely different thing though.

you need to go to the bon site to get the full rules that the board uses. tx has been working on a nurse practice act for lvns due to wide variations in what is allowed and lvns being used as rns when it is inappropriate and employers are just looking to save a buck.

as a general rule, lvns can do what they are trained on and have evaluated competencies for. it us up to the individual facility to decide on what lvns can/can't do.

an rn must perform any initial admisstion assessment. hospitalized pts must have an rn assessment at least once every 24 hours. it is not appropriate to simply sign off on an assessment that an lvn has completed. do not let an rn talk you into this - big trouble for that.

some facilities allow lvns to give ivps, some don't. same with pcas.

you should get the list of dos/don'ts in your facility's orientation. if you don't, look up the policies for yourself to make sure you don't make a booboo. the hospital and other nurses have no problems hanging you out to dry if it saves their butts. make sure you are informed.