Today is Independence Day. Happy 4th of July to those here in the United States of America. Both as a citizen and a registered nurse practicing in the US, I am always grateful for the freedom and liberty we enjoy in our country.
As an RN, I feel lucky and privileged that we are able to carry out functions and tasks related to assessment and placement of venous access devices, PICC’s in particular. In other countries, these are considered the function of a physician. I was told that in some countries:
- “Nursing” is considered “ancillary” to medicine
- Nursing boards do not allow nurses to do PICC placement which is done by a physician
- The nurses themselves do not want to take the responsibility or liabilty
- Placement of venous access is not considered a nursing function.
- Limited advanced education or training for nurses
Yes, our country isn’t perfect and we definitely could do better. But the freedom and rights given to us as citizens has provided some advantages to practicing our profession in this country. Often we forget how lucky and privileged we are to be registered nurses here in the USA and be allowed to perform functions that our nursing colleagues in Europe, and in many other countries are not able to do. It is my hope that someday, they will fight for their rights and be allowed to practice infusion nursing, place lines and provide safe infusion care to their patients.
Happy Birthday America!!
Infusion Nurse Blog 
I agree completely that we are very fortunate to live where we do. However, I just returned from WoCoVA where I learned that yes, many countries do not allow nurses to place lines, but I also learned that many nurses from other countries not only place PICCs, but they also place CVCs. Nurses in Australia, France and England, as well as others, I am sure. And that is why WoCoVA exists, to try to bring globalization and standardization to the specialty field of vascular access. I was very impressed with the organization and their goals. I recommend attending in 2014 if at all possible.
Hi Sheila,
Thanks for your comment. I attended the very first WoCoVa in 2010 and was so glad to have met so many nursing colleagues from other countries. I hope to be able to attend in 2014 and see the progression in the practices for our colleagues.
Best regards,
Cora Vizcarra (@infusionnurse)