I work in an emergency room setting in Virginia and am curious about
the placement of peripheral catheters into the external jugular vein,
specifically as it relates to the professional scope of practice of a
registered nurse.

The specific parts I'm interested in are: 

Whether the external jugular vein considered a central or peripheral
vein, by medical/nursing standards.

Is catheterization of the external jugular, not using a catheter long
enough to reach the superior venae cavae, considered peripheral venous
access?

Which states (and their respective Boards of Nursing) have specific
guidelines or policies that address the issue of Registered Nurses
using the External Jugular for peripheral intravenous access.

Thank you for your time.

Jugular is ussualy considered a central access, as in non limb
location, caliber-wise, etc.

Check http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/spd/provtools/dd/nursing_manual/division_47.pdf

" "Central venous catheter" means intravenous access inserted into the
subclavian or jugular vein or into a peripheral vein which terminates
either in the superior vena cava or right atrium." (jugular here seems
to indicate both external and internal)


Regarding professional scope, it seems to be included in North Carolina.

http://www.ncbon.com/prac-inscope.asp

I suggest you contact Virginia`s board (
http://www.dhp.virginia.gov/nursing/) for specific jugular
considerations since all i could find was related to pheriferical
access without jugular clarification.

http://www.dhp.virginia.gov/nursing/guidelines/90-6.doc

"In general, it is the position of the Board of Nursing that a
registered nurse may insert and remove P1CC lines upon order of a
licensed physician and that the procedure is within the scope of
practice of a registered nurse. In specific clinical practice
settings, factors to be considered include"

Hope it helps, 

Regards,