Techs starting IVs

Gee, in my state (FL) only nurses can start IVs.

Must be your hospital Angie, at mine in the ED the techs start IV's all the time. Course all have four important intials after their name EMT-P.

Now for the wierd, worked at one hospital in Michigan in 98-99 that the techs could start IV's if they hung fluid ie NS, D5 ect, but if it was a saline lock that was "a med" and could not start those.

Rj:rolleyes:

Our "techs" are CNA's . . . the EMT-II and medics who work in the ER start IV's in the ER but it is beyond their scope of practice to come onto the floor and start IV's.

The term "tech" needs defining . . .

Same here. I assumed by "tech" the OP meant "Patient Care Tech" or "CNA."

WOW, I never knew they could start IV's....

To clarify-Our ED techs are all CNAs and EMT-I or EMT-P. They recently decided at our hospital that they can't hang IV fluids, but have continued to let them start IVs. They can go to the floor and start lines. Does anyone have an IV team that includes techs?

I work in Michigan and the PCA'S (techs) start over 90% of IV starts. but they cannot hang IV fluids . We have techs on our IV team and they are experts at starting IV's.

I work in an AL ER and techs do not start IV's. I would not mind if they were medics, in fact i think a medic would be a great asset to an ER.

I want to know exactly what is the the scope of practice is for an non EMT I or II tech in Alabama??

I am not happy with techs making decisions concerning pt care or assessments .

i am uncomfortable with techs dcing ivs then assessing the site . who would be responsible for problems resulting from ivs if assessed incorrectly??

Not to sure i like the idea of techs inserting foley caths... who will be responsible for Foley insertion that results in nasocromial infection due to sloppy/non sterile technique? i am seeing techs do things that should be reserved for rns or lpns . I am seeing nurses allowing techs to perform or make decisions concerning pts that would be a liability to the facility due to the increase in the number of pt needing care vs number of rns on shift.

a tech should not be taking on professional duties reserved for nursing. what kind of impact will this have on professional nursing?

i am definitely unhappy with the sub. OJT nurses is not a good idea... duties are being passed to techs with little or no training and or formal education. there should be a definite line drawn.

i do agree a tech can be very valuable to doctors, nurses and pts when utilized properly.

I have no problem with techs starting IV, as long as they do it right and they let the nurse look at it after doing it. Some techs are more educated than some of us even, maybe even more knowledgeable than us RORO. Just look at your term "nasocromial", just to make a correction my friend, there is no such term as nasocromial. It is nosocomial, that means hospital-acquired. I hope you keep an open mind about learning from others even though they are supposedly "techs".

I'm a nurse tech working in the ER. I've worked there for 4 months and granted I'm not the most experienced IV starter in the lot, but I've started IV's that floor nurses called me to do because their 12 sticks wouldn't make it. So yes, tech's who are trained in class, "checked off" by RN's at least 5 times before allowed to be autonomous, are perfectly well qualified to start IV's. It's what prepares us to be great nurses. It's no different than a new grad learning IV's on real patients. Everyone starts somewhere. It's a huge relief to the RN's who are insanely busy. If they don't trust a tech with their patient's IV they say so. That's the RN's responsibility to make sure that the person they are delegating a task to is competent. If they don't like the idea of using a tech, they don't have to. I can have a CNA do my accuchecks and vital signs. They are trained to do so, but if they are not competent then I as a (future) RN would not delegate these tasks because my patient care is my responsibility. Techs are very helpful, but not mandatory.

BTW, I start IV heplocks. Saline, D5, LR, etc are "meds" and this is a perfectly good rule. A tech could start fluids not knowing the patient is CHF, etc. That is technically a medicine that you are giving a patient because you have to watch for the s/s. Only the initial flush is completed, maintenance flushes are done by RN's.