"Medicine Administration Certification" and other things

[Aeterna, BSN, RN]

Since when is there literally a certification for anything in nursing? I recently was looking at a job posting and one of the requirements was "Certification in medication administration" or something to that effect. I was left scratching my head. I went through four years of nursing school and graduated summa cum laude, I have my BScN, I passed my licensing exam with no problem, and I have over 2 years of "real world" nursing under my belt. I'd like to think I am competent enough to give my patients medications. Why do I need additional schooling and a certificate telling people I'm certified to give someone their pills?

But looking at other job postings around, there is literally a certification or course for everything. A lot of jobs seem to require a "Physical Assessment Course", which I can see might be useful but at the same time, I know how to do a basic head-to-toe assessment thanks to heavy emphasis on it in nursing school.

And then there are the certifications specific to each nursing specialty - oncology nursing, medical nursing, pediatrics nursing, etc. This I can see definite merit to. However, I am a relatively new nurse, just getting my feet wet and wanting to test the waters in various specialties to see what suits me best. I don't know what I want to do or stick with, so I don't have specialty certifications because I feel like going through all of that work only to stay in that specialty for 1-2 years would be...kinda pointless? If I decide to stick with a specialty, then I would consider getting certified in it. But...whatever happened to "on the job" learning?

Also, how in the world do people keep up with their certifications and re-certs? My head is swimming with it all. There is BCLS to keep up with, I also have my non-violent crisis intervention and gentle persuasive approach certification, and where I work, we have at least a dozen "self learning packages" (with tests) to read and complete every 2 years (on top of the massive tome that is the chemotherapy package/test). I am also doing an online oncology course. How in the world do I add even more on to that and maintain the things I already have?

Basically, I think I'm just frustrated that, even after 4 years of nursing school, there are still more courses to complete even for a general med-surg floor for things nursing school covered already. I am not even looking into any critical care areas, which is a whole beast in and of itself...

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Since when is there literally a certification for anything in nursing? I recently was looking at a job posting and one of the requirements was "Certification in medication administration" or something to that effect. I was left scratching my head. I went through four years of nursing school and graduated summa cum laude, I have my BScN, I passed my licensing exam with no problem, and I have over 2 years of "real world" nursing under my belt. I'd like to think I am competent enough to give my patients medications. Why do I need additional schooling and a certificate telling people I'm certified to give someone their pills?

I wonder if you're confusing an advertisement for a medication aide with one for a nurse? In many places, a CNA (or some such designated nurse's aide) can take a short course that would "certify" them to be legally permitted to pass out certain kinds of medications to patients (in lieu of, but still under the supervision of, an RN).

[Aeterna, BSN, RN]

I wonder if you're confusing an advertisement for a medication aide with one for a nurse? In many places, a CNA (or some such designated nurse's aide) can take a short course that would "certify" them to be legally permitted to pass out certain kinds of medications to patients (in lieu of, but still under the supervision of, an RN).

Where I live, something like a CNA or medication aide is pretty much unheard of. Nurses here in Ontario, Canada tend to provide total care to their patients, sometimes with the help of a PSW for assistance with ADLs, but nothing medically related like medications or even vital signs assessments. The only tricky part when applying for jobs is making sure I don't accidentally apply for an RPN position rather than an RN position.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Hmmm....well, then, I have NO idea why you would need anything more (in the way of credentials) to pass medication than you already do. But, as you said, things are different in Canada, so....I don't know. If you were in the States, then no, you would be expected AS an RN to know how to do that!

Hope it works out.