What would you do?
Abstract
School Nurse Consultants Q & aWhat would you do? SAGE Publications, Inc.2002DOI: 10.1177/104747570201700310 Judith F. Harrigan RN, MSN Colorado State School Nurse Consultant This section is ivritten by members of the National Association ofState School Nurse consultants Q: The school district in which I work is considering hiring an emergency medical technician (EMT) as the "school nurse" in one of our elementary schools. is this legal? A: Nurse practice acts prohibit individuals who are not licensed as registered nurses from performing nursing procedures. Some states allow registered nurses (RNs) to delegate nursing tasks to unlicensed persons who have been judged by the RN to be competent to perform the task. Other states do not allow delegation to occur. If the EMT is functioning in the same capacity as the RNs who are school nurses and thus performing nursing procedures, this individual may be practicing nursing without a license-an illegal act in all states. However, it is legal for the EMT to be hired as an aide, if supervised by a registered nurse who delegates nursing procedures according to the laws of your state. Check with your state board of nursing and the board that certifies or licenses EMTs