suturing information required

Welcome to allnurses. I would post this in the general forum, if I were you, or the ER forum, where you might get more replies.

Here, only the ARNP's are allowed to suture.

Well this depends on the setting.

Technically, RN's arent allowed to suture. However, in surgery, first assist RN's harvest veins from the leg for CABG's(this is a major surgical procedure) In shock trauma, medical students stitch up head lacs, and they have no license at all! Both of these instances technically occur under the umbrella of a supervising MD. Are they legal? I guess so at least in a teaching hospital.

Is this the setting you are in?

Hi and welcome:)

I don't mean to offend you, but this sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Suturing isn't difficult, but good suturing is not something that you just up and decide to do.

Do you know which techniques to use if you are concerned about adequate wound eversion? Do you know the differences in needles and when to use them? Do you feel like you can judge how much tension to use so as to minimize crosshatching and tissue strangulation when using a vertical mattress technique? Why would it be best to use a monofilament material instead of a multifilament for a pulley stitch? Why would it be better to use Novafil instead of Prolene when tissues might swell significantly?

If you can't answer these questions, its probably not a good idea to be performing wound closure. I don't have any problem with RN's doing simple wound closure, but they need good and rigorous training to do it.

I can do an awesome job using a subcuticular stitch on someone's face, but I didn't learn how to do it by reading an article.

In Ontario, suturing is a responsibility of the physican, or nurse practitioner, or RNFA. I have never met a physicians assistant. What schooling do they have? Is that only in the US? Curious.

Sarah

Please, let's not pretend that suturing is rocket science either.

There are countless CST's and surgical assistants (some licensed, some not depending on the state) that function as first assistants in surgery. We use dozens of independently contracted CSA's (Certified Surgical Assistants) in our facilities, and they do a little bit of everything, including suturing and stapling. They are credentialed through the hospital, and the surgeon isn't supposed to leave the room until the incision is closed, although they often do. They usually function under a physician's delegatory authority (if that right is granted by the state) just as an unlicensed medical assistant does who gives injections in the physician's office.