Does New Procedure and Nursing Scope of Practice

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To determine whether a new procedure falls within the RN scope of practice you would first clearly define the procedure at hand and ask if it was learned in your basic nursing program. If it was not part of a basic nursing program, determine if you learned the procedure as part of a comprehensive training program which included clinical experience, for example skills specialized to a specific floor or area of the hospital. Then determine if the procedure has become so commonplace in nursing literature and practice that it can reasonably be assumed within the scope, such as wound care and dressing. Find out if the procedure falls within your State Board of Nursing's scope of practice and then if it is in the hospital's policy and procedure manual, which the employer would believe to be within your scope of practice. Finally, determine if the procedure would pass the "reasonable and prudent" standard of nursing, meaning would a nurse with the same education and training perform the task. You must have a valid order from the physician, documented competency for the procedure, and be willing to accept the consequences for your actions (Anderson, 2014). When introducing the new procedure to the physicians and fellow nurses, a few steps should be taken. First, make sure administration and nursing supervisors are on board with allowing this kind of change to be implemented so that a new policy can be written stating this procedure is within the scope of practice in order to protect the nurses who will be performing it. Mandatory skills classes or in-services regarding the new procedure would have to be implemented for all physicians and nurses that would be directly involved with it. The nurses then should be able to teach back the new procedure and receive documentation of competency of this skill. The change should not be forced on anyone, only those nurses who

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