Should nurses be able to pull chest tubes?

Did the RN of the patient pull it?

i have pulled for decades

but I have decades of experience

i document "assisted dr soinso pulling right axilary chest tube, dressing applied,

etc....

the NP critical care and senior, experienced nurses as me do.

but "in association with".......way out of scope with being a student.

facillity p&p, along with NPA play into factors

The RN that I was working with in clinical that day did pull it. She had never pulled one before and did not know facility policy regarding pulling a chest tube (which is a definite NO, to all nurses). Im looking for good opinions with rationale with this question.

It's been nurses that pull chest tubes everywhere I've worked. It's not particularly complex and certainly isn't out of the realm of what nurse's do everyday. It does need to be something where a competency is acquired, confirmed, and maintained just like sheath pulls which I'd argue are far more complex than pulling a chest tube.

I am now an RN in PA. During our critical care semester, in our hospital based school, I, and many of my classmates, did pull chest tubes, with our instructor guiding and teaching the whole way. It was an awesome feeling to snip the sutures and tug on that tube until it came out with that 'shlorp' sound. An amazing learning experience.

I am assuming when you say "pulling a chest tube" you are talking about removing it?

Is your preceptor comfortable letting you do this if you have talked through the procedure?

I would often take out a drain following surgery. Not something I had learned as a stiudent however went through the process with my preceptor prior to performing the procedure in the patients room.

As student nurses we didnt have a specifically defined scope of practice, it was laid down by the skills taught in school and the skills we learned on the ward.

I left open heart surgery a long time ago but I taught enough residents how to pull them that I have no doubt whatsoever that it's a skill anybody can learn.

i have been pulling for four +decades

I've pulled them for years. I don't see why this is a problem as long as you're taught how to do it!

Honestly, no.

Why not?

I used to put them in, why shouldn't I or anybody else who is properly trained in their removal and has the critical assessment skills needed to monitor the patient be able to take them out?

Not meaning to be argumentative just very curious as to your reasoning.