Difficulty With a Nurse

[WelshMedic]

do you need to re-phrase that ... an RN is an RN regardless becasue they are a registered health care professional - their core scope of practice does not rely on being employed or being employed by any specific employer ...

Not the case in the US. Each individual organization licences and covers it's practitioners. I would not be able, officially, to start an IV on american soil as I am not registered with the State Board and have no employer to cover my arse when the excrement hits the oscillating device.

wm

[Dustdevil]

however trying to hijack your supplies is a different matter ...

Very true!

But as WM said, without doctors orders, both a medic and an RN are just first aiders here in the U.S. They carry with them skills, but no medical autonomy off duty, unless specifically authorised by their employer and medical director.

[soccer35]

[afd1307]

In the U.S there is the Good Samaritan Law which covers people for helping when they are off duty.

[JPINFV]

In the U.S there is the Good Samaritan Law which covers people for helping when they are off duty.

That only covers them for liability, but doesn't give them the same authorization that something like standing orders would give.

[Just Plain Ruff]

yep gives em liability protection but not protecction for practicing medicine without authorization.

This is why I never stop or offer to help unless the ambulance crew is totally overwhelmed like a bus wreck or a train versus airplane disaster.

[Richard B the EMT]

Perhaps not the exact wording, but NY State Good Sam laws say to effect, if a person attempts to render aid without expectation of financial renumeration, without attempting harm, or withholding treatment as a trained individual, they are covered by Good Sam. If they do it for pay, they are covered by NYS Public Health Law, Article 30.

Either way, it is "Protection" if the individual gets sued, neither offers 'Immunity" from being sued.

[JakeEMTP]

In the U.S there is the Good Samaritan Law which covers people for helping when they are off duty.

Do not think for one minute, that the Good Samaritan Law will protect you from being sued. The Good Samaritan Act was put in place to encourage the lay public to stop and render aid without fear of being sued. We as professional's are supposed to know WTF were doing and will hopefully cause no harm to the injured.

http://pa.essortment.com/goodsamaritanl_redg.htm

When you go running up to a scene and yell " I'm a EMT!", you exempt yourself from the Good Samaritan Law.

As always, there will be exceptions and some States will protect you from prosecution. There will however, always be the law firm of Dewey, Screwem and Howe that will be out to get you. Be careful.

[MSDeltaFlt]

Has anyone ever had difficulty with a nurse or other medical staff? We had one ER nurse that gave everyone a hard time. She made a comment one night that she would prove a medic wrong even if they were not. And we were standing right there. :angry4: Most of the docs didn't like working with her. Some had gone as far as refusing to work if she was there. I don't know if she had a power trip or something or what, but making a call up or giving report directly to her was very frustrating. And she would purposely try to trip you up with questions. Maybe she had an inferiority complex or something. She was a wide as she was tall. She seemed book smart but when it came to practical skills she was useless. Who knows? :dontknow:

Sorry for the late post. Been out of town a while. Depending on the state (if I'm thinking properly), you can really make an ER RN's life a living hell if he/she's being a bit nasty.

I've informed several that if they pushed the issue, every single pt I would bring in would be fully packaged on LSB with at least 2 IV's and on a CM - acting as a proper patient advocate... and I know how to document on my chart. Ensuring that every single pt would be brought back in the ER. After hearing that, a couple of particularly bitchy nurses got REAL quiet REAL quick.

Also, you do not have to give a RN a bedside report where I come from. You only have to give report to someone of equal or higher training. Could be the ER doc. The RN must be informed of the pt. Simple. Give bedside report to med control, and INFORM the RN that there is a pt that requires their assessment. They have absolutely no say so in the matter.

This may differ from state to state so I may be way off and do not mean to offend. Just FYI.

[zippyRN]

<snip>Also, you do not have to give a RN a bedside report where I come from. You only have to give report to someone of equal or higher training. Could be the ER doc. The RN must be informed of the pt. Simple. Give bedside report to med control, and INFORM the RN that there is a pt that requires their assessment. They have absolutely no say so in the matter.

This may differ from state to state so I may be way off and do not mean to offend. Just FYI.

given that paramedics in the US are not (Registered) Practitioners i think you might well just find that an RN is 'equal or higher' in the food chain ...