The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) recently endorsed "The Role of the Registered Nurse in the Insertion of Intraosseous (IO) Access Devices," an official position paper from the Infusion Nurses Society, Norwood, Mass.
The paper states that qualified registered nurses (RNs), proficient in infusion therapy and appropriately trained, "may insert, maintain and remove IO access devices." Advances in vascular access have increased RN scope of practice to include IO devices, expanded to non-emergent settings, it adds.
AACN Clinical Practice Manager Robi Hellman, RN, MSN, CNS, notes the benefit to patients of this expanded scope of practice. "Allowing RNs to perform IO cannulation significantly decreases the time critically ill patients need to achieve, access and receive medications," she explains.