MT Pleasant Healthcare: LPN PICC Line Dispute - TN
At 6:07 in the evening on March 20, 2025, the Regional Nurse walked into the conference room where inspectors were conducting their review and placed a document on the table. It was a copy of Tennessee's Chapter 1000-02, the Rules and Regulations governing Licensed Practical Nurses. Her point was direct. "Nothing says they cannot," she said, referring to LPNs accessing PICC lines.
PICC lines, peripherally inserted central catheters, are long intravenous lines threaded through a vein in the arm and advanced until the tip rests near the heart. They are used to deliver medications, nutrition, and fluids over extended periods, often for residents too sick or fragile for repeated standard IV placements. Because the catheter tip sits close to the heart, improper access carries serious risks, including bloodstream infection, air embolism, and cardiac complications.
The question of whether an LPN can access a PICC line is not a simple one, and the Regional Nurse's citation of the LPN licensing rules did not settle it. Licensing regulations define the legal scope of a profession. They do not always describe what a specific facility's protocols allow, what a particular nurse has been trained and demonstrated competent to do, or what clinical guidelines recommend for a given procedure. "Nothing prohibits it" is a different claim than "we verified competency and followed safe practice."
Inspectors cited the deficiency at a level of minimal harm or potential for actual harm, with few residents affected. That classification sits toward the lower end of the federal harm scale, but it reflects a real finding: something about how PICC line access was being handled at this facility did not meet the standard inspectors applied.
What the inspection record does not show is any documentation of competency verification, any facility policy presented alongside the licensing rulebook, or any clinical rationale offered beyond the regional nurse's assertion that the rules did not explicitly forbid it. The defense was regulatory silence, not demonstrated safety.
The timing matters too. The Regional Nurse arrived at 6:07 PM, during an active inspection, with a printed copy of a licensing regulation. That is not a spontaneous clarification. That is a prepared response. Whether the preparation reflected genuine confidence that the practice was sound, or an effort to push back against inspectors before a deficiency was formally recorded, the inspection report does not say. What it does say is that inspectors recorded the deficiency anyway.
MT Pleasant Healthcare and Rehabilitation operates at 904 Hidden Acres Drive in Mount Pleasant, a small city in Maury County in southern Middle Tennessee. The facility serves residents requiring both long-term care and short-term rehabilitation. PICC lines are common in that population, used for post-surgical antibiotic courses, chemotherapy continuation, and long-term nutritional support in residents who cannot eat adequately on their own.
For those residents, the question of who accesses the line and whether that person has been properly trained is not abstract. A PICC line is a direct pathway into the central venous system. An access event that introduces contamination, introduces air, or dislodges the catheter tip can produce consequences that are swift and severe.
The Regional Nurse's argument rested on what the licensing code does not say. Inspectors, applying federal standards for resident care and safety, found that argument insufficient. The deficiency stands in the record.
Whether the residents whose PICC lines were accessed by LPNs at this facility experienced any harm, the inspection report does not document. The classification of minimal harm suggests none was identified at the time of the survey. But the gap between "no harm found" and "safe practice confirmed" is exactly the space that the Regional Nurse's rulebook defense left unaddressed.
She said nothing prohibits it. The inspectors wrote it down as a violation anyway.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Mt Pleasant Healthcare and Rehabilitation from 2025-03-20 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: This article is based on inspection data downloaded directly from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via Medicare.gov. CMS releases inspection reports in bulk; we publish the findings as documented by state surveyors in the official Form CMS-2567 Statement of Deficiencies.
Plan of correction: The CMS report we receive does not include the facility's plan of correction. Facilities submit plans of correction separately to state survey agencies and those responses may not be reflected in CMS data at the time of publication. The absence of a plan of correction in our data does not mean one was not filed. Readers who want information about corrective steps taken are encouraged to contact the facility directly or their state survey agency.
Corrections may have occurred: Inspection reports reflect conditions observed on the date of the survey. Facilities may have implemented corrections, staffing changes, additional training, or other remediation since the report was issued. We report what CMS provides and encourage readers to seek current information from the facility.
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Last verified: November 2, 2026 · Our methodology
MT PLEASANT HEALTHCARE AND REHABILITATION in MOUNT PLEASANT, TN was cited for violations during a health inspection on March 20, 2025.
It was a copy of Tennessee's Chapter 1000-02, the Rules and Regulations governing Licensed Practical Nurses.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.