Good Afternoon,
Currently work on a CCT ambulance in LA county. Our company is requiring CCT-RN's to complete an online and hands-on course of 2hrs to be able to work with and transport patients that have inhaled nitric oxide blended through our ventilator. Problem is, we as nurses do not think it is in our scope to do this and only RT's in hospitals deal with this, so pawning off to CCT-RN's after a 2hr class seems not only dangerous but unethical especially since these patients are very complex and super high-acuity/unstable. We placed a call to our County EMS office for guidance on the legality as our company said "it's legal and within your scope as long as you have a doctor's order, protocols on it and are trained on it" and are waiting to hear back.
Does anyone here work as a ground CCT-RN and have familiarity with transporting patients using nitric oxide? If so, how long/in-depth was your training? Does anyone know if it is legal/within scope for a CCT-RN to be the one handling nitric oxide without an RT? We have done one transport with a patient on nitric oxide however we asked for the facility RT to come with us and they allowed that, so we did not touch that piece of equipment.
Currently work on a CCT ambulance in LA county. Our company is requiring CCT-RN's to complete an online and hands-on course of 2hrs to be able to work with and transport patients that have inhaled nitric oxide blended through our ventilator. Problem is, we as nurses do not think it is in our scope to do this and only RT's in hospitals deal with this, so pawning off to CCT-RN's after a 2hr class seems not only dangerous but unethical especially since these patients are very complex and super high-acuity/unstable. We placed a call to our County EMS office for guidance on the legality as our company said "it's legal and within your scope as long as you have a doctor's order, protocols on it and are trained on it" and are waiting to hear back.
Does anyone here work as a ground CCT-RN and have familiarity with transporting patients using nitric oxide? If so, how long/in-depth was your training? Does anyone know if it is legal/within scope for a CCT-RN to be the one handling nitric oxide without an RT? We have done one transport with a patient on nitric oxide however we asked for the facility RT to come with us and they allowed that, so we did not touch that piece of equipment.