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pldeleon
Does anyone allow staff other than nurses to access implanted ports?

Someone at our facility is asking for staff that are not nurses to be trained to access implanted ports. Is anyone else familiar with this practice?

valoriedunn
I would think that is NOT in

I would think that is NOT in "other Staff's" practice act.  I would be checking with your state.  I have taught "caregivers" and a couple of patients to do this in the home and find they are more cautious then a lot of nurses I have watched.  But that is different then in a facility.

Valorie

Valorie Dunn,BSN, RN, CRNI, PLNC

lynncrni
 Nonlicensed staff such as

 Nonlicensed staff such as EMTs or medical assistants do not have a "practice act" like what nurses have. In most states there practice falls under the Board of Medicine. What they can do is sometimes outlined in detail, but this is rare. Medical boards do have statements that say that physicians can delegate tasks like this to unlicensed staff in thieir office. I just checked on this for GA last week. Nothing to say that MAs can or cannot start an IV or access a port, or do cardiac surgery. A few years ago, the idea of physicians being able to delegate these tasks to any one was reconfirmed in GA. There are some differences in various states. If a tasks is being delegated to an unlicensed person by a nurse, there are specific guidelines for such delegation from all state boards of nursing providing guidance about how this delegation is done. Most medical boards do not have similar detailed delegation statements. Lynn

Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, BC, CRNI

Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.

126 Main Street, PO Box 10

Milner, GA 30257

Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com

Office Phone 770-358-7861

Chris Cavanaugh
Radiology Techs

Radiology technologists are licensed in the state they practice in.  In many hospitals, they are credentialed and trained to access implanted ports for high power injections of contrast.  They follow the same procedure an RN would.   

Chris Cavanaugh, RN, BSN, CRNI, VA-BC

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