[brian]

SPRINGFIELD -- The ever-increasing demands of routine patient care are swamping some nursing homes in the state, and the Illinois General Assembly is weighing a measure designed to help them.

But registered nurses are up in arms about the proposal now facing lawmakers: a plan to create so-called "medication technicians" who would be allowed to dispense routine oral pills to residents under the direction of nurses.

Supporters of the proposal, House Bill 822, say the typical RN spends more than three hours a day simply doing rounds with daily pills to residents, time that could be better spent doing things professional nurses are uniquely trained for -- handling emergencies, consulting with doctors and assessing patients' ever-developing needs. "This legislation will enable nurses to devote more time to performing duties that require their level of education, skill and professional abilities," said Susan Duda-Gardiner, director of clinical services for the Illinois Council on Long-Term Care, an umbrella group for nursing homes.

Full Story: http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/...-nurses04.html

[unknown99]

No, no med tech for me!! I would not want that responsibility... and liability. I worked too hard for my license!

[lee1]

Originally Posted by brian

SPRINGFIELD -- The ever-increasing demands of routine patient care are swamping some nursing homes in the state, and the Illinois General Assembly is weighing a measure designed to help them.

But registered nurses are up in arms about the proposal now facing lawmakers: a plan to create so-called "medication technicians" who would be allowed to dispense routine oral pills to residents under the direction of nurses.

Supporters of the proposal, House Bill 822, say the typical RN spends more than three hours a day simply doing rounds with daily pills to residents, time that could be better spent doing things professional nurses are uniquely trained for -- handling emergencies, consulting with doctors and assessing patients' ever-developing needs. "This legislation will enable nurses to devote more time to performing duties that require their level of education, skill and professional abilities," said Susan Duda-Gardiner, director of clinical services for the Illinois Council on Long-Term Care, an umbrella group for nursing homes.

Full Story: http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/...-nurses04.html

HMMM, under the direction of is the sticker here. Where are the most bedside errors made and you want to give that responsiblity to a tech???? Medication errors if I recall still accounts for the largest number of errors and it is what armband barcoding, etc is all about. Leapfrog iniatives, etc.

[Tweety]

........time that could be better spent doing things professional nurses are uniquely trained for -- handling emergencies, consulting with doctors and assessing patients' ever-developing needs. "This legislation will enable nurses to devote more time to performing duties that require their level of education, skill and professional abilities," said Susan Duda-Gardiner, director of clinical services for the Illinois Council on Long-Term Care, an umbrella group for nursing homes."


I don't think for a minute they are going to hire extra med-techs and keep the nurses at the current level. There plan is to hire cheaper med-techs and use less nurses, mark my word on that one.

Nurses spend their entire nursing school, and then some, learning pharmacology, etc. This is a major part of what we do.

[Spidey's mom]

It is all in the way you spin a story . . . . yeah, they are really trying to help us out.

You can take facts and spin them a certain way and make the story sound any way you want.

Be careful when reading anything.

steph

[germain]

Why not just have a medication vending machine? Aides wheel the patient up, patient puts in their card, choose applesauce or orange juice, out come pills and voila! NO muss no fuss. Then nurses can glide around easily doing those things they are specially trained to do, since administering medication is no longer one of them.

??????????????????????????

What a mess. ALready as an aide nurses ask me to pass meds ( uh, no can do) but seriously, what we need is not medication aides, we need MORE NURSES. UGH.

[Jolie]

I just moved from IL to NE, and am currently searching for a nursing home for my hubby's aunt. NE utilizes med aides, and I am terrified by this thought. Can you imagine a CNA with a few more weeks of schooling passing meds to 40 residents, each with multiple medical conditions, taking multiple meds?

Unfortunately, it is permitted here, and I'm afraid I'll never find a nursing home that doesn't utilize med aides. PLEASE, IL nurses, oppose this with all your might!

[mattsmom81]

What these politicians don't GET is we still remain responsible for those medications by law!!! Its so much more than the time taken to administer. But..nobody seems to want to get this huge matter of liability.... except us, the BNE's, and of course the malpractice/negligence attorneys.

Can we flood them with letters???? We all need to flood our legislatures with mail or we will just have more inneffective and even harmful decisions made...like this one. .

[talaxandra]

They talked about that here a while ago, but with pharmacists as the dispensers. There was such a huge outcry at just the suggestion that the proposal died in the water.
Here's my question - without a nurses's skill and knowledge, and without being able to interpret vital signs, values, or even how the patient looks, how is someone supposed to know what drugs to give, what to withhold, what to query and what to call a doctor about? After all, if the patients' conditions remained the same we wouldn't be needed at all!

[SmilingBluEyes]

Originally Posted by Tweety

........time that could be better spent doing things professional nurses are uniquely trained for -- handling emergencies, consulting with doctors and assessing patients' ever-developing needs. "This legislation will enable nurses to devote more time to performing duties that require their level of education, skill and professional abilities," said Susan Duda-Gardiner, director of clinical services for the Illinois Council on Long-Term Care, an umbrella group for nursing homes."


I don't think for a minute they are going to hire extra med-techs and keep the nurses at the current level. There plan is to hire cheaper med-techs and use less nurses, mark my word on that one.

Nurses spend their entire nursing school, and then some, learning pharmacology, etc. This is a major part of what we do.

More UAPs are not what we need; more QUALIFIED LICENSED STAFF are. CMA's are NOT the answer, for the reasons already discussed in the CMA threads we have had. I just "love" how they spun this to make it seem "nurses don't want help when it's offered". Tweety here is right. It's all eye wash and blaming the NURSES here, as usual. How aggravating a story like would be believed as credible by anyone.