I contacted them about that and they stated to me that the LPN can
work in the ER as long as they have the RN supervision. They would
not say how close the supervision had to be. They recommended that
I contact JCAHO, which I have but am awaiting a call back. I think
that if the hospital puts me in this position that I should quit but
just wanted to see what others say.

Thanks for the input Darrell.
Chris

--- In emergency-nurse@yahoogroups.com, "Darrell Spurlock, Jr."
<dr.dspurlock@...> wrote:
>
> 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]
>