[BradleyRN]

Originally Posted by Stanley-RN2B

But how many of those are caused by nurses vs. Med aides? Every throws around the large number of errors but always fails to indicate which were caused by nurses.
Plus, how many errors are PREVENTED due to more people on the florr passing fewer meds...

This statistic is from the Institute of Medicine. I am not throwing around the large number of "errors". As my very last post clearly states, these are "injuries". As far as i am concerned, all these injuries were perpetrated by actual nurses. After all, the 800,000 committed in LTC are out of 1.5 million. If doctors and nurses can generate this many medication related injuries, just imagine the numbers those with 4 days of training could attain.
How many errors are prevented by having more people passing fewer meds? That may sound like a logical question to someone that is not a nurse. When i gave meds to 35 patients, most of which were polypharmacy, the 35th patient received the same educated care that the 1st one received. This is not a baseball game. Though we do get tired, it is not like on the 30th patient we start making a bunch of mistakes and have to call in a relief pitcher. We can still read the MAR (that is the document where the medications are listed for each patient), the meds, and perform assessments. I would rather have a super-tired nurse take care of me than an individual with 4 days of training any day. If you have read this thread, then you have read a few med aides themselves say that it is a dangerous concept.
If you have decided to become a med aide yourself ( 4 days is surely better than years of intense training and for the same job!), then i apologize if this thread has offended you.
When i went from a CNA to an LPN, i couldnt believe the abyss of difference in knowledge. (My CNA course was longer that the med aide course.) The only way to actually understand the magnificent difference between nurse and aide, it to have been both. So i will wait for you to understand.