Passing narcs with the med tech?

ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN · Sep 29, 2011

in that case, at least where i work, yes i count narcotics.. usually just with another pca. if its days i do it with the lpn.

and no were not licensed.

KareBear0609 · Sep 29, 2011

in that case, at least where i work, yes i count narcotics.. usually just with another pca. if its days i do it with the lpn.
and no were not licensed.

I don't see how this is legal. I thought med techs/aides passed out medications that were preprepared/prepackaged and did not touch or count anything.

Scary.

KaringOne · Sep 29, 2011

I've worked in longterm care facilities that employ med techs. They pass oral meds, narcs, give suppositories, patches, etc. They don't give any injections or do any IVs. If I understand correctly, the med techs I worked with (& this was in Missouri) went to school for 3-6months to be certified to pass meds. They are a great asset to have. With the med techs passing meds, this helped free up time for the nurse to have more interaction with the patient, to do assessments & whatnot. How disappointed I was when I moved to Tennessee & worked in a LTC facility that did not employ med techs. The nurses spent the majority of their time passing meds. I now work in a home healthcare setting where they spend 8-16 hours training individuals to pass meds in the homes that don't require a nurse to be in attendance. I really think that this should not be allowed because that is not enough time to accurately train anyone-meds are so important & in most cases critical to the patients well-being...but those med techs that I worked with in MO really knew their stuff. I miss having them around. :crying2:

J.e.n.n · Sep 29, 2011

My friend worked at a facility during school and they also used medication techs on all med passes and they made mistakes all the time. During shift change on one particular evening the daytime med tech had not finished med pass but failed to make that clear to the night med tech. Over half of the patients did not receive their afternoon meds and they were filling out stacks of incident reports. I asked who's license they were actually working under and the girl wasn't sure but thought they worked under a staff RN on the day shifts license. YYYIIIKKKKEEESSSSS!!!!! They would often times disregard the times indicated on the mar for administration times and adjusted it to what they thought worked better for the patient. These were not PRN drugs. I know the training was very limited and it was a simple lack of education on the techs part but could not imagine why the facility would leave themselves open to such a huge risk or why an RN would let someone pass meds under their license if they are not present.

anurseatlast · Sep 30, 2011

In Nebraska, I think Medication Aides only take a 1 week course. Most are CNA but that doesn't teach them anything about medications. I would definitely NOT want my parent in a facility that used med aides to do medication. Think how many med errors occur in the hospital when nurses with lots of training give them. It is scary.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Sep 30, 2011

I believe it is the same thing as a medication aide - which is basically just one class to be able to pass meds. From my understanding med aides/techs aren't allowed to touch the medication, only hand out.

OK.... now I'm really not understanding what you mean. How does someone give meds without touching them?

I'm envisioning some type of catapult device, and I'm fairly certain that wouldn't fly ....... ()

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Sep 30, 2011

I've worked in longterm care facilities that employ med techs. They pass oral meds, narcs, give suppositories, patches, etc. They don't give any injections or do any IVs. If I understand correctly, the med techs I worked with (& this was in Missouri) went to school for 3-6months to be certified to pass meds. They are a great asset to have. With the med techs passing meds, this helped free up time for the nurse to have more interaction with the patient, to do assessments & whatnot. How disappointed I was when I moved to Tennessee & worked in a LTC facility that did not employ med techs. The nurses spent the majority of their time passing meds. I now work in a home healthcare setting where they spend 8-16 hours training individuals to pass meds in the homes that don't require a nurse to be in attendance. I really think that this should not be allowed because that is not enough time to accurately train anyone-meds are so important & in most cases critical to the patients well-being...but those med techs that I worked with in MO really knew their stuff. I miss having them around.

:up:

The med aides (what we called them....CMA's) in TX were very conscientious about their work. The post above (one of those near this reply) says that the med aides made mistakes all the time..... was that actual knowledge by visually observing? Or rumor? And if so, why didn't she report this? Mistakes "all the time" means someone wasn't looking out for the patients by reporting them to the DON, and if needed, the state.

We never had night med aides, since the volume of meds was manageable. But the day and evening CMAs were wonderful to work with- and THEY knew what they couldn't do and would hunt down the bones of Flo Nightengale herself if need be :)

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Sep 30, 2011

In Nebraska, I think Medication Aides only take a 1 week course. Most are CNA but that doesn't teach them anything about medications. I would definitely NOT want my parent in a facility that used med aides to do medication. Think how many med errors occur in the hospital when nurses with lots of training give them. It is scary.

What is the exact percentage of med errors in the US? How does that translate into an individual persons' actual risk over their lifetime?

Seriously, I'm curious :)

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Sep 30, 2011

I got curious :)

%0.25 med error rate.... One quarter of one percent. So, that's what- one in 400 patients will have a med error. ANY med error is not desirable. But it's not like nurses (or med aides) are out there throwing meds around like Skittles. :uhoh3:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/409777_4

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11560192

And I've seen a lot of really stupid nurses do some unbelievable things. I've seen one med aide mess up enough to be terminated (and it was over not giving the meds- not giving the wrong stuff- and amazingly, he did it very deliberately as to cause the least chance of harm.... missed vitamins, etc..... the worst (VERY experienced) RN I saw was going to draw up insulin in a 3cc syringe...seriously- I caught her).

http://www.nehca.org/nhclc/medicationaide.htm

NB med aides can evidently give insulin. They must get enough training to satisfy the state???? :twocents:

AZMOMO2 · Sep 30, 2011

no they have no license. What do you mean are they allowed to pass narcs with a med tech? A nurse can pass narcs by herself. Do you mean do count?

KareBear0609 · Oct 1, 2011

OK.... now I'm really not understanding what you mean. How does someone give meds without touching them?
I'm envisioning some type of catapult device, and I'm fairly certain that wouldn't fly ....... ()

There is an assisted living facility near my home, I have never worked there, but someone I work with used to work there. She was employed as a CNA, but she states that all she did was passed meds. She said they weren't allowed to touch the medications, only hand them out. Basically, they had already been pulled by an RN and put into some sort of cup or container. They would hand the medication to the resident and that's all.

checker1981 · Oct 14, 2011

nurses pass narcotics alone, they need another nurse to discard wasted narcs usually.