Sutures

[studentdan]

I was just wondering if Nurses do sutures/stitches on patients with cuts?

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

Perhaps some nurse practitioners practice this: however, MDs are the only ones I've ever seen perform suturing. We mostly remove them.

We do treat the patient with pain medication prior to the MD suturing though ;-)

[studentdan]

Thanks, I've always been curious as to who gives them. :)

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

Nope. That's a doctor thing. Nurses can irrigate wounds, however.

[XingtheBBB, BSN, RN]

Just as trivia, many nurses in the OR do suture with additional training (an RNFA- registered nurse first assist- which is NOT a masters/mid-level degree)

[Cathylady]

A friend of mine that was bitten by a dog on her face went to the ER and was sutured up by a NP. The NP said, "This is your lucky day, stitches are my specialty." Two days later my friend went to a plastic surgeon to see if anything more was needed for the two huge bite marks on her face and the Dr. said, I couldn't have stitched you up any better myself. :-)

[studentdan]

A friend of mine that was bitten by a dog on her face went to the ER and was sutured up by a NP. The NP said, "This is your lucky day, stitches are my specialty." Two days later my friend went to a plastic surgeon to see if anything more was needed for the two huge bite marks on her face and the Dr. said, I couldn't have stitched you up any better myself. :-)

Another nurse doing our profession proud.

[GilaRRT]

I did small lac repair as an Army medic, and also did minor procedures such as small laceration repair and I&D's when I worked overseas. As a general rule; however, I do not stateside.

[chare]

while it is within the rn scope of practice in nc, most facilities do not allow this due the required education/training and annual competency requirements.

activities withing the scope of practice for the rn or lpn

i hope this information is helpful.

[mappers]

Hot Lips often had to close for Hawkeye....

[wooh, BSN, RN]

An NP did stitches on my little sister's face, healed up beautifully. Much nicer than stitches I got from a real live MD. :)

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

Okay, fine! It's *generally* a doctor thing, with some exceptions. We don't use NPs or RNFAs in my ED, so it is a doctor thing. RNs generally don't do sutures.