South Dakota Administrative Rules › Title 20 - PUBLIC SAFETY › Article 20:48 - NURSES › Chapter 20:48:04 - The practice of nursing › Section 20:48:04:01 - Standards of nursing practice - Registered nurse and licensed practical nurse

Current through Register Vol. 51, page 10, July 15, 2024
The standards of practice for a registered nurse and a
				  licensed practical nurse are to:
(1)
				Practice within the legal boundaries for nursing practice authorized in SDCL
				chapter 36-9 and this article;
(2)
				Accept personal responsibility and be accountable for actions, competence,
				decisions, and behavior in the course of nursing practice. A nurse does not
				avoid this responsibility by accepting the orders or directions of another
				person;
(3) Perform only those
				activities, tasks, or responsibilities that another reasonable and prudent
				nurse with similar educational preparation and demonstrated clinical competence
				would perform and that one has determined can be accomplished safely;
(4) Perform activities, tasks, or
				responsibilities only after considering the complexity and frequency of nursing
				care needed by the client population served;
(5) Perform activities, tasks, or
				responsibilities only after considering if a practice setting allows a nurse to
				perform the activities, tasks, or responsibilities in the practice setting,
				provides a sufficient number of qualified personnel within the practice
				setting, and provides adequate channels of communication that lend support to
				the types of nursing services offered in the practice setting;
(6) Maintain competence through ongoing
				learning and application of knowledge in current nursing practice;
(7) Obtain instruction and supervision when
				needed in implementing new or unfamiliar nursing techniques or
				practices;
(8) Document nursing
				care provided, changes in a client's condition, or relevant information, in an
				accurate and timely manner;
(9)
				Maintain professional boundaries and therapeutic relationships with
				clients;
(10) Collaborate and
				consult with, or refer clients to, other health care providers to resolve
				situations beyond one's expertise;
(11) Practice without discrimination on the
				basis of age, race, religion, gender, national origin, sexual orientation,
				patient diagnosis, or disability;
(12) Advocate for the respect, dignity,
				rights, and property of clients;
(13) Take preventive measures to promote an
				environment that is conducive to health and safety; and
(14) Report illegal, substandard, unethical,
				unsafe, or incompetent nursing practice.
General Authority:
SDCL
					 36-9-21.
Law Implemented:
SDCL
					 36-9-1.1,
					 36-9-3,
					 36-9-4.
Declaratory Ruling:
Instructing a patient on routine measures for taking care
					 of a condition does not constitute the practice of medicine and is not grounds
					 for disciplinary action even if the information and recommendations provided
					 are in excess of, or different from, the information and recommendations given
					 by the patient's physician, so long as the nurse did not, on own, treat the
					 symptoms or disease. South Dakota Board of Nursing Declaratory Ruling No.
					 80-1.
A nurse must exercise professional judgment when a
					 physician transmits orders through a third party, who may or may not be
					 unlicensed, via telephone or otherwise. If an order is transmitted through a
					 third party, all persons, including the third party, must be identified by name
					 and title before the order may be implemented. South Dakota Board of Nursing
					 Declaratory Ruling 87-1.
Although registered nurses, under the direction of a
					 physician, may administer narcotics, analgesics, sedatives, and tranquilizing
					 medications to patients, registered nurses may not administer any medication
					 for the purpose of inducing general anesthesia. It is not within the authority
					 of the board to determine how or for what purpose a specific drug with multiple
					 uses is being administered at any given time. Institutional or agency protocol
					 must address this. South Dakota Board of Nursing Declaratory Ruling
					 89-1.
Homemakers employed by the Department of Social Services or
					 its contractors may provide assistance with the self-administration of
					 medications to clients who are mentally capable of self-directing their care
					 and who reside in their own home or reside in adult foster care or an assisted
					 living center if the homemakers are trained as homemakers, are placed by an
					 agency, and are under the supervision of a professional social worker or nurse
					 as appropriate and if the assistance is limited to reminding the client to take
					 a medication at a prescribed time, opening and closing a medication container,
					 and returning a medication container to the proper storage area. Services
					 provided under the conditions described are not dependent upon licensure in
					 nursing. South Dakota Board of Nursing Declaratory Ruling
					 92-1.
1.
Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice
,
					 2004 edition, American Nurses Association. Copies may be obtained from American
					 Nurses Publishing, 8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 400, Silver Spring, MD
					 20910-3492.
2.
Guide to the Code of Ethics for Nurses:
					 Interpretation and Application
, 2008 edition, American Nurses
					 Association. Copies may be obtained from American Nurses Publishing, 8515
					 Georgia Avenue, Suite 400, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3492.
3.
NAPNES Standards of Practice and Educational
					 Competencies of Graduates of Practical/Vocational Nurses
, 2007 edition,
					 National Association for Practical Nurse Education and Service, Inc. Copies may
					 be obtained from the National Association for Practical Nurse Education and
					 Service, Inc.,
www.napnes.org
.