LPN Scope of Practice?

U.S.A. Virginia

Published

Hi all! I recently moved from NY to VA and I am an LPN. I am having some issues finding the practice act for VA/my scope of practice.

I started my position this week and I am using a new EMR system (NextGen) and I was using Epic previously. The trainer told us that we are the ones signing the orders we need under the MD after they give us the verbal order and then once the results come back for the selected tests the MD will sign off. So basically if they want a CBC on their patient, they tell me and I am ordering it (under their name) and signing the order, then drawing the blood and sending it to the lab. The MD doesn't have to do anything but give me a verbal order.

In NY I could not do anything without an MD's order so I would pend the order for the physician and have them sign it before I could complete it. LPNs could not take a verbal order, just RNs and only in an emergent scenario. I just want to make sure this is in my scope and I am not doing anything I shouldn't be doing.

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

Virginia scope information is here:

Virginia Board of Nursing Guidance Documents

Anything not covered should be addressed by your facility. If I recall, NY is especially strict about anyone (both LPN or RN) doing anything without an order from a provider, which made it impossible to establish things like triage protocols in the ED. It's definitely not like that in Virginia because we had protocols, but I can't speak to the LPN side of things.

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