Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration Essay Assignment

RN and LPN Scope of Practice

What are the differences between the RN and LPN Scope of Practice?

The scope of practice of an LPN is usually restricted to routine patient care under the direction of a physician or RN (Pogzar, 2022) Claywell (2021) posits that the practice of practical nurses is regarded as directed because a LPN works under the direction of a physician, RN or other provider. An LPN is prepared to deliver care to patients with common health problems and their focus is to meet patients’ basic needs. The LPN collects data or performs basic assessment but does not perform the level of assessment that needs clinical reasoning, critical thinking, and clinical judgment.  Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration Essay Assignment

Compared to an LPN who performs routine patient care, the RN provides competent nursing care to individuals, families, groups, and communities. The RN is a collaborator, critical thinker, decision-maker, delegator, and teacher (Claywell, 2021). Pogzar et al. (2021) emphasize that scope of practice of a RN, for instance, include patient assessment, health counseling, patient teaching, operating medical equipment, and executing medical regimens, as prescribed by licensed healthcare provider like a physician. Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration Essay Assignment

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How do you determine what tasks to delegate to an LPN?  To Unlicensed Assistive Personnel (UAP) (Techs)?

A RN determines the task to delegate to an LPN or UAP by establishing if the individual can competently perform the delegated tasks without compromising patient safety if the delegated tasks and if the NPA allows such tasks to be delegated.  According to Zerwekh and Garneau (2020), RNs must know the delegation regulations and rules of their state’s NPA. Also, RNs must be aware of the delegation policies along with job descriptions of nursing team members in their employing institution and department, since job descriptions can differ from one department to another. In South Carolina, Section 40-33-42 – Delegation of tasks to unlicensed assistive personnel, a RN is responsible for delegating and supervising nursing tasks to UAP.  Tasks that might be delegated to UAP must be outlined in institutional policies and the employer needs to confirm the training of UAP along with their competencies to complete the activities. Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration Essay Assignment

What would you do if your facility had a policy in place that contradicted the Scope of Practice for RNs in your state and asked you to delegate tasks that are in the RN scope of practice?

In this scenario, I would carefully review the facility’s delegation policy and discuss the situation with my supervisor. This situation is complex and can be confusing to both me as RN, other health care team members, and the employer.  It is my obligation to know my state Nurse Practice Act and educate the facility if a situation arises where I am being directed to complete a task that is prohibited by the NPA. Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration Essay Assignment

References

Claywell, L. (2021). LPN to RN Transitions – E-Book: LPN to RN Transitions – E-Book. Elsevier.

Pogzar, G. D. (2022). Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Zerwekh, J. A., & Garneau, A. (2020). Nursing Today – E-Book: Nursing Today – E-Book.  Elsevier.

What are the differences between the RN and LPN Scope of Practice?
How do you determine what tasks to delegate to an LPN? To unlicensed Assistive Personnel (UAP’s) (Techs)? Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration Essay Assignment
What would you do if your facility had a policy in place that contradicted the Scope of Practice for RN’s in your state and asked you to delegate tasks that are in the RN scope of practice?
Students will conduct a web review of the South Carolina Board of Nursing Website

(If anyone is a resident outside of South Carolina, please Google the state and State Board of Nursing to find the scope of practice in your state).

Review the website thoroughly, navigating each section
Find the RN Scope of Practice
Find the LPN Scope of Practice Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration Essay Assignment