is this within my scope?

Nurses General Nursing

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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!

Sounds odd to me to not have it administered at the clinic. I have heard of women having to do monthy injections at home of hormones who are doing egg donation. My sister did this years ago--before I was a nurse and asked me to give her one of her injections. She was shown how to give herself the injections but hated doing it. I did give it. But then again I was not a nurse then. I guess its similar to givng insulin to yourself at home. But as far as the depo--do they give that using Z-track? Just curious. Seems a bit more risky. There is a lot of med in there. What 3 or 4 months worth. I would think going and having it done at the clinic would be standard. And they do a pregnancy test each time time too don't they. --I would not do it personally.

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I am on Depo and I give myself my own injections every 3 months. My doctor writes a script and I pick it up from the pharmacy. It already comes pre-made, in a 1 mL syringe with a 22 gauge. I refuse to pay a 20.00 co-pay to have the MA at my doctor's office give my the injection when I can do it myself.

And you do not have to take a pregnancy test as long as you are within the two week grace period after the next injection is due. I keep a calender and know exactly when I need to give myself the injection.

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Specializes in m/s,tele.
Hmmm, 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.

As an RN friend sadly found out, elkpark is correct. Nurses are highly regulated and held to a much higher standard whether you are on the clock or off.

As soon as an RN has a complaint of any sort go to the Board of Nursing you find out just how regulated nursing is. Trust me the board of Nazi's WILL hold an RN accountable for ANYTHING they deem negative that the nurse does 24/365. I wouldn't give the shot.

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

OK may I have the final word? Don't do it. It's not legal.

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Like the above poster, I am on the Depo shot and don't go back to the Mds office because of the copay and wait. So I pick my shot up from the pharmacy and either have a coworker, myself, or anyone else that is willing give it to me. I just don't like giving it to myself because it's an odd angle, but it's doable.

I've even had my 16 year old step-daughter give it to me. Just marked the area for her to stick.

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Specializes in Emergency, Case Management, Informatics.
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.

If you believe this, then you're on the fast track to a malpractice lawsuit.

To the OP: Don't do it, plain and simple. Unless you're directed to do so by an MD, you're exposing yourself to a big liability. Even if the chances of something negative happening are very small, there's still a chance. And I don't take chances with my license.

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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

Heck, Pharmacists in my province can administer them.

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The prescription for Depo-Provera is usually picked up at the pharmacy by the patient and then taken to the clinic for administration. At the clinic I work at, a pregnancy test has to be administered before Depo (every time) can be given AND the patient has to have a yearly Pap. Since Depo is given q 3 months, there's a certain "window" that the patient has to get the injection and THEY MUST come within in that certain window. Otherwise, if they're late or fall outside the window, it is solely up to the discretion of the primary care provider to administer it or not.

My question is, why is she wanting you to administer it? People who are on Depo usually know that there is a protocol before they can receive it.

I WOULD NOT give her the injection for all the "unknowns" l just stated.

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If you believe this, then you're on the fast track to a malpractice lawsuit.

To the OP: Don't do it, plain and simple. Unless you're directed to do so by an MD, you're exposing yourself to a big liability. Even if the chances of something negative happening are very small, there's still a chance. And I don't take chances with my license.

I agree 100%

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Sounds odd to me to not have it administered at the clinic. I have heard of women having to do monthy injections at home of hormones who are doing egg donation. My sister did this years ago--before I was a nurse and asked me to give her one of her injections. She was shown how to give herself the injections but hated doing it. I did give it. But then again I was not a nurse then. I guess its similar to givng insulin to yourself at home. But as far as the depo--do they give that using Z-track? Just curious. Seems a bit more risky. There is a lot of med in there. What 3 or 4 months worth. I would think going and having it done at the clinic would be standard. And they do a pregnancy test each time time too don't they. --I would not do it personally.

Yes, it's given Z-track.

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
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?

There is such a thing as a Good Samaritan Law. I have provided a link so that you can look up the law in your state. The main concept is that a nurse or any healthcare worker can administer care in an unexpected/emergent situation. What the OP is describing seems more like a "request for convenience" if you will. As many posters have commented, the risk of a multitude of things going wrong comes into play. I would kindly explain to this tech that you are simply not comfortable giving the shot.

http://www.rescueriders.org/liability.html

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Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

Absolutely not. From personal experience I know that a depo shot can have some serious implications.

A few years back I went to my doctor to have my injection. A day later I started developing an abscess. After two days this had not gone down and it was very painful. I went back to the doctor who prescribed me oral antibiotics. Two days after this I went to the nearest ED, they tried aspirating it with not much luck.

I ended up having to have surgery to have it drained. Not only did I have to go under GA, the pathology came back as MRSA. I have a small scar and it took about a month for the wound to close because it had to stay packed.

So don't risk it.

(On the plus side I have not been MRSA cleared. If I had to go to a public hospital I would get a private room so that's a bonus I guess).

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