After practicing in rural Southside Va for 32 years, I am keenly aware of difficulty hiring LVT's in small, rural communities. Allowing trained assistants to place catheters in these practices will greatly enhance patient care. Even in practices with LVT's, when assistants are allowed to place catheters, quality of care would be improved by letting LVT's spend more time on client education and more technically challenging medical procedures for which they are trained.