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Panel approves delegation of heparin administration to patient-care technicians under RN supervision
Summary
The committee adopted an amendment and advanced House Bill 1183 to allow patient-care technicians in dialysis units to administer heparin under registered supervision and Board of Nursing oversight, aligning Arkansas practice with rules in many other states, sponsors said.
Representative Bentley presented House Bill 1183 with a committee amendment requested by hospital and medical societies to clarify wording and to add the word "registered" where appropriate.
Bentley said Arkansas has about 2,500 residents receiving dialysis and described patient-care technicians as highly trained, facility-specific staff who complete roughly 18 months of training. She told the committee the bill would allow an RN to delegate heparin administration to a patient-care technician under facility policy and Board of Nursing oversight, putting Arkansas in line with 34 other states that permit the practice.
"If you would think about motor oil in the engines, heparin is to a dialysis machine," Bentley said during her presentation. She described the current practice in Arkansas as requiring staff to stop and locate an RN to give a bolus of heparin; the bill would permit delegated administration when the RN is on the premises and the delegation conforms with written facility policy.
The committee first voted to adopt the sponsor’s amendment; members then approved a motion to give the bill a due-pass recommendation. The transcript records those actions as voice votes; the record does not include a roll-call tally.
Bentley said the measure would put patient-care technicians under the Board of Nursing registry so the state can monitor who is performing the procedure and discipline as needed. She framed the change as a safety and efficiency measure for dialysis units with existing RN oversight and facility-specific protocols.
