? about scope of practice & BON will not respond

[mtnmom]

I am not sure where to post this. the Georgia forum seems to be primarily visited by students and prospective students.

I have a question regarding scope of practice for RN that I have not been able to answer from perusing the Georgia Code sections dealing with RNs or the State Board link. I have called the Georgia State Board of Nursing twice and both times have been promised a call in 24 hrs, it has been a week and no call back.

To make a long story short, a manager at a facility I just started working at PT told us that it is OK for RNs to intubate if trained to do so. He has done it

on one occasion that I know of since I started. He is an RN with extensive trauma, flight nurse, etc background so I know he knows what he is doing....but that does not matter if it is prohibited under Scope of Practice.

Now I work ER and M.S. at this facility,...it is in a rural area so anything really high acuity needs to be sent out. I have current ACLS and there is some brief training on intubation as a part of that but not enough for me to feel comfortable doing so.

At the last ER I worked at, and where I last renewed ACLS, we were told that RNs were prohibited from doing so under state law. That is consistent with what I have been told in the past. I have always thought that CRNAs and paramedics only could intubate besides the MD.

The nurse manager that I spoke of is licensed in more than one state (at least 3) and I know for a fact that Scope of Practice differs between states.

Any advice if I cant even get through to anyone at the BON or if they will not call me back? This is crazy!!! I just want to know what the truth is!

[smk1, LPN]

Intubation and suturing is not in any Scope of Practice for any BON in the US.

Period.

It is restricted to nurses that have appropriate certification, or training to do it, such as advanced practice, or for suturing, the RNFA. For intubation, then a flight nurse with appropriate training. Again, appropriate training is the key word. For nurses that do have the training, you need to do so many in the OR under the experience of an anesthesiologist, and have so many to do per year to keep up the skill. But again, it is not in routine Scope of Practice for the RN.

ACLS does not constitute appropriate training or certification, and they spell that out directly in the program and their guide. Nor wil lyou seen either of these skills taught in any nursing program in the US, unless it is advanced practice.

ok this makes sense, so why does there seem to be confusion over who is allowed to do what?:uhoh21:

[suzanne4, RN]

there should not be.

[mtnmom]

Just to set the record straight. I obviously did not word my question very well.

I only am trying to resolve the discrepancy between what I am being told now and have been in the past. A prior employer where I worked ER told us that intubation is not permitted by RNs under SCOPE OF PRACTICE. The current employer has told us that "if you are trained to do it you will be allowed to do so" - there is NO written policy and procedure covering same at this employer, although we have been told that one is under development.

Somehow I sense that some respondents did not quite get the gist about what I was trying to ask.

Maybe this is not a scope of practice question after all, in spite of what the prior employer said. I was just basing my question on the prior information given to me. I have no desire nor intention to perform the procedure myself. I just tend to be curious when I have conflicting information given to me, on any subject.

I am still a little disturbed that I could not get a response from the BON at all. As our regulatory body I would hope that they would try to either try to provide guidance or point someone to additional resources when a practice issue arises. Maybe they just thought the question was too stupid and not worthy of a response?

Oh well. I promise I am a wee bit more intelligent than this thread has made me out to be.