Chris,

I started out as an RN at a small rural hospital like you are
describing, and even those small hospitals need an adequate number of
RNs (as you realize). So, if your administration is unwilling to find
more staff, then you have to make a decision on what to do to protect
yourself and your patients. I wonder if your state board of nursing
would agree that you are effectively supervising the ED LPN if you are
not even physically present in that area.

Darrell Spurlock, Jr. PhD, RN, CCRN, CEN
Assistant Professor
Mount Carmel College of Nursing
127 S. Davis Ave.
Columbus, OH 43222
Phone: 614-234-5414
Fax: 614-234-2875
Email: dr.dspurlock@...




On Jul 17, 2008, at 12:15 AM, chris_rn2006 wrote:

> I am a RN supervisor at a rural hospital in virginia. We have a very
> small ER with a LPN and then me supervising. The med/surg floor is
> also very small. Recently they have had a lot of nurses quit. My
> problem is that they are wanting me to cover the med/surg floor as the
> only RN in the hospital and also supervise the LPN in the ER. My
> problem with this is you have to have a RN to triage in the ER and
> since my name has to go on the paper work I do not feel comfortable
> leaving the ER when there is a patient. The other problem is that you
> have to have a RN on the med/surg floor at all times also. What if
> someone passes away because of this. I don't feel that this is safe
> for patients or my license. Can someone please give me some input.
>
> Thanks for the time and support.
> Chris
>
>
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]