is this within my scope?

[sweetieann]

Hi all:

So a tech that I work with gets the Depo provera shot as birth control. She asked if I could gie her her injection next time I see her. Am I legally able to do this?

Thanks!

[mef06011]

I used to get the depo provera shot and a nurse always administered it. but it had to be perscribed by my WHNP

[Darknights]

I wouldn't. If you give it to your colleague at work then the hospital won't cover you if anything goes wrong as she is not a patient. You wouldn't have a med chart or valid med order either.

Think about all the things that could go wrong.......allergic reaction, site infection, nerve damage........

[Darknights]

Whoops

[Flo., BSN, RN]

I wouldn't. Those are usually adminstered at an md's office. How does she get the medication?

[Sarah010101]

All she needs is the Rx and then she can go to her local pharmacy and pick it up (I believe it is in a vial?). Usually they go back to the clinic to get the actual injection

[Annaiya, NP]

Is there a reason why she won't go to the clinic to get it done? Isn't it an IM injection? Maybe mention to her that it's probably a good idea to have it done by someone who does them all of the time, because I would think if it was done wrong (like SC instead of IM) it could affect it working properly. Unless she wants to get pregnant, I think she should go to the clinic.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are helping a friend with an injection that they would normally do at home and there is no nurse-patient relationship established, you aren't giving the injection as a nurse but as a friend instead. Obviously since you are a licensed professional you would be held to a higher standard to do things correctly, but I don't see how you would be responsible for infection, reaction, or other risks associated with the injection. Just because you are an RN 24 hours a day doesn't mean you are liable for any nursing-related task you do in your personal life.

[elkpark]

Just because you are an RN 24 hours a day doesn't mean you are liable for any nursing-related task you do in your personal life.

Ummm, yes, it does ... If you give the co-worker the injection, you are choosing to enter into a nurse-client relationship. You could be held liable, in this situation, for anything that went wrong. Same as if you give healthcare advice to a neighbor and something goes wrong, or any other situation in which you perform a nursing function/activity. If you are a licensed RN (or LPN), there's no such thing as giving the injection "not as a nurse but as a friend." That's the point of being licensed -- we're held to a higher standard and level of responsibility than a member of the general public, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

OP, I would not touch this situation with a ten-foot pole.

[Darknights]

I am not familiar with your laws but a quick look at the "nurses Legal Handbook" indicated that Elkpark is right. I'd actually interpreted it as your giving the injection the next time you worked with the Tech.

[JDZ344]

Don't do it, seriously. Any complications, and you could be on the line. At the clinic, they are insured against complications.

As an aside, any reason the tech can't be shown by the nurse at the clinic how to do it herself? Thats what the clinics do here, and if we're comfortable, we administer it at home.

[ocean waves]

Hello. Though it is tempting to help a co-worker or friend with personal medical care, I agree with the writers who advise that it would be wise legally speaking to kindly refer this co-worker to her health care provider for medication nursing interventions ( this should be a formal medical facitlity where the patients are required to sign consent forms for care and where the staff are protected by malpractice insurance in case there are any problems.) Long ago as a new grad, one time I let my legal guard down and agreed to give an injection to the elderly Mom of a friend at her home--later, I realized that was a very risky legal thing to do which might have jeopardized my hard earned nursing license if any thing went wrong---since then, I always refer folks to their health care providers. Best wishes!

[Annaiya, NP]

So is it different because it is an injection vs., for example, cleaning and dressing a wound? I just find it hard to believe that just doing an act that is something within the scope of nursing automatically establishes a nurse-patient relationship and therefore liability. I understand the giving medical advice to a a neighbor thing, but to say the neighbor kid is over playing with your kids and falls and scrapes a knee (very minor no blood) and you clean it and put a band-aid on it and it later gets infected, to say that because you're a nurse you can then be sued for negligence or malpractice seems ridiculous. There is no nurse-patient relationship there and to say it is created by helping would just encourage nurses to never help anyone outside of work, because not helping wouldn't establish that relationship.

I realize the laws don't always make sense, but this just seems extreme to me. I'm curious now and will have to try to find some time later to research it. Does anyone know of any authority addressing this?