Who Can Supervise Nurses?

[cvh1576, CNA]

Hello,

This might sound like common sense but believe me a lot of people do not know this answer. Some background, I work for a substance abuse treatment center. Among the medical staff we have 1 RN, several LVN's, LPT's, EMT's, MA's and CNA's. We have all been very upset and a lot of people are leaving and/or looking for other work because people are finding out our supervisor does not have a license or even a certification. Just recently HR posted a job opening looking to hire a lead. I emailed HR asking if the "lead" has to have a nursing license and the response was yes. I was of course confused because my own supervisor does not hold any credentials at all, I'm a CNA. My supervisor received this position because her step father was someone in upper management. She was also told when getting this position she will either have to be enrolled in a nursing program or receiving her degree, that was about 4 years ago. This person has acted like a nurse this whole time, giving flu shots, TB's, when JCAHO and State came she was in meetings with them and doing "nursing" duties. Let me know your opinions, thoughts.

[CharleeFoxtrot, BSN, RN]

I'd find another job and then drop a dime on the State's regulatory agency and JCAHO. But that's just me.

[cvh1576, CNA]

Yes, I'm on my way out. There is way too much "shady" stuff happening here. I've been with this company for 5 years and I've seen way too much. Thanks for your comment.

[egg122 NP, MSN, APRN]

So, she could be a supervisor in the sense of scheduling, hiring and firing capability, non-clinical disciplinary issues (like lateness), managing workflow, give feedback on customer service type issues and non-clinical training the same way in which an administrator might be the head honcho (but not clinical) in a nursing home. They should have already had the RN lead in place when she was hired to review clinical issues though. In most states unlicensed personnel cannot give shots, however, some states do allow MDs to delegate this to unlicensed staff- that is the sketchy part and is typically only done in the outpatient setting. I'd say overall if she was not doing the shots, it may be totally legit but the injection part is a little messed up.

[cvh1576, CNA]

Thank you for the feedback. She was actually removed this last week. She is doing strictly administrative work. She was assessing, assigning and delegating medical duties, including to RN's and LVN's. Medically approving clients to be admitted into our facility. You had people in an uproar once the nurses found out she has no credentials or nursing education. We are currently looking for a supervisor and a lead at this time. I just don't understand how a person can delegate to someone that have credentials to protect when you yourself do not have anything. So frustrating.

[Katie82, RN]

really surprised that Joint Commission didn't pick up on that during your last inspection, they must be slipping. They do review Licensing and Certifications when doing an inspection.

[cvh1576, CNA]

We've all been shocked on how it was overlooked the first couple of years especially when her title was Health Care Supervisor, Although her title was all of a sudden changed to administrator, that was about 6 months ago. People covered up for her for sure. That's one of the reasons why I'm leaving this company.