I work in the ICU and we work very closely with our RTs. I love my RTs and get along and respect all of them. I even respect and love the RT I'm about to mention, her comment just makes me have more sympathy than anything.
Casually discussing nursing and respiratory education she interjects how her scope is greater than mine and can do more yet still gets paid less even as a head RT. I mean maybe she's bitter because she makes less than the Nurse Clinician 3-5? - and her way of justifying everything is by saying "I get paid less but my scope is larger I can do what you do and more".
Okay sure. I'm not even gonna argue that. I'm sure you can. I'm just a lowly ICU nurse. I wipe booty.... das all guyzzzz.
Nursing diagnosis and intervention. Like Potential for skin impairment related to immobility secondary to pain? And then the nurse adds skin precautions and a turning schedule?
Or do you mean any of the things that we observe and discover but then have to get an order for things as simple as I.S.? We can't apply a bandaid without an order.
Without established protocols, standing orders and/or an understanding with regular providers who will sign our orders retroactively, it's more style over substance.
Who cant apply a Bandaid? We don't need orders to initiate a dressing at my hospital. We need to report it to the doc and s/he might order something different though. We initiate IS too.
New York, I've done a few PICC lines and a ton of ART's. Im not bragging, but its covered under my license and studied how to do them vigorously. The hospital you work at may not allow RRT's to do ART lines, so you don't see them do it. But he/she might have been the go to art-line guy/girl at her previous hospital.
I have worked at small, rural hospitals that don't even have a respiratory therapist, the RN did it all. And I have worked at small, rural hospitals where the only respiratory personnel were known as OJT's, on the job trained, and not licensed at all. The RN's manage vents in all of the hospitals I have worked, including large ones. Not bashing RT's at all, just saying every place is different.
canoehead, BSN, RN
6,909 Posts
Who cant apply a Bandaid? We don't need orders to initiate a dressing at my hospital. We need to report it to the doc and s/he might order something different though. We initiate IS too.