A colleague of mine commented on her concern that LPN Independent Providers (IPs) in Ohio don't utilize a contract or professional services agreement to memoralize the professional and business relationship with a RN(s) for patient supervisory visits. She commented that nurses are not taught anything about good or bad business practices and IPs (who may be LPNs or RNs) may not understand that they are running a business.
If you are not familar with Independent Providers see the Ohio Independent Provider Network for background information and cites to relevant laws and regulations.
In a nutshell, Ohio LPNs have a dependent scope of practice and when practicing an LPN-IP must utilize a RN for supervisory visits with patients and for other issues that arise in the context of patient care (these services are provided in the home environment) that are outside the scope of practice of the LPN. (Now isn't that a sticky situation! I will post on scope of practice later this month when I have more time, trust me.)
Are nurses as a group business savvy in your opinion? Are the business concepts associated with providing nursing care taught in nursing school? What do you think? In your opinion is this something that nurses should acquire post-graduation?
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