Passing narcs with the med tech?

Nurses General Nursing

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Are nurses allowed to pass narcotics with a med tech instead of the other nurse? Are med techs licensed?

Thank you!

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I don't know what a med tech is...Excuse my ignorance but can someone enlighten me?

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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.

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I think they are the same as med aide. They had a training for like 8 hours or so.

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Specializes in LDRP.

im considered a med tech i guess where i work. im a pca at an assisted living facility, and i pass meds for an entire hallway of residents-- about 25 give or take.. on 3-11 and 11-7 there is no LPN or RN on duty at all, it is just me and one other pca, and yes I give narcs as well as insulin injections.

dont ask me why this is legal, because im not sure myself. i only took a one day class and a pretty simple test at the end and voila i could pass meds..

we are connected to a LTC facility that has RNs and LPNs on duty at all times, so if there is a question or some kind of emergency we can call them over, but we dont need their help to pass narcs or anything.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
im considered a med tech i guess where i work. im a pca at an assisted living facility, and i pass meds for an entire hallway of residents-- about 25 give or take.. on 3-11 and 11-7 there is no LPN or RN on duty at all, it is just me and one other pca, and yes I give narcs as well as insulin injections.

dont ask me why this is legal, because im not sure myself. i only took a one day class and a pretty simple test at the end and voila i could pass meds..

we are connected to a LTC facility that has RNs and LPNs on duty at all times, so if there is a question or some kind of emergency we can call them over, but we dont need their help to pass narcs or anything.

Wow. that's a little scary.

No.........that's very scary. No offense meant toward the poster.

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im considered a med tech i guess where i work. im a pca at an assisted living facility, and i pass meds for an entire hallway of residents-- about 25 give or take.. on 3-11 and 11-7 there is no LPN or RN on duty at all, it is just me and one other pca, and yes I give narcs as well as insulin injections.

dont ask me why this is legal, because im not sure myself. i only took a one day class and a pretty simple test at the end and voila i could pass meds..

we are connected to a LTC facility that has RNs and LPNs on duty at all times, so if there is a question or some kind of emergency we can call them over, but we dont need their help to pass narcs or anything.

Must be considered a home care environment.

Sounds just plain wrong to me. These people are there because they need help with many different ADL's, medication management being a big one.

Nobody has the skills necessary to do that with such minimal training. We all know what the bottom line is here.:eek:

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Specializes in LDRP.
Must be considered a home care environment.

Sounds just plain wrong to me. These people are there because they need help with many different ADL's, medication management being a big one.

Nobody has the skills necessary to do that with such minimal training. We all know what the bottom line is here.:eek:

i absolutely agree.. im actually a nursing student as well, so i have additional education as opposed to my coworkers (not saying completing half of my nursing program entitles me to act as an LPN, which i feel like they are making us do..) but i think it is supposed to be a personal care home, but we have patients with pretty bad dementia, that need their pills crushed and fed to them. it is much like the nursing home side except we cant accept people in wheel chairs.

want to hear something really scary?

i was working one night a few months ago when the pca down stairs called me and said "so-and-so's blood sugar is 50, is that really low? should i still give her the insulin?" i was like, well, probably not unless you want her to go into a coma... "well, the order says to give it every day at 5:30, i cant just not give it right?" :uhoh3: i told her please dont give it, call the doctor and let him know, and for god sakes give her something to eat or drink to get her sugar back up, and recheck it in a little bit. "okay, i just gave her a soda." i was like, okay that will be fine for now.. it was regular soda right? "no, shes a diabetic, she cant have that, i gave her the diet coke she had in the fridge." :uhoh3::uhoh3::uhoh3:

i ended up hanging up, calling the doctor on the cordless as i ran down stairs with a chocolate milk, checked her sugar myself and it was in the low 40s now. sat with her and rechecked her until it was up in a good range while the other girl just sat and watched. then had this comment: "theres only an order in the MAR to check her BS ONCE at 5:00!! Did the doctor say you should check it more than once?!"

ive brought this and situations like it to my supervisors attention and asked many times why we dont have an LPN on the night shifts.. her answer: the state law says we only need a nurse for one shift a day: day shift. :eek:

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Thats terrifying!!! I mean yes its easy to read the medication and give it out, but there are circumstances in which you dont give medication, Like the above post, and while some of it is common sense (or at least you would think), a lot of it you need nursing training for, thats why medical wont pay unless there is a lisenced nurse giving medication.

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Are nurses allowed to pass narcotics with a med tech instead of the other nurse? Are med techs licensed?

Thank you!

As an RN I pass narcotics by myself, it isn't required that I pass them with a witness :confused:. Not sure what your question means.

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Specializes in LDRP.
As an RN I pass narcotics by myself, it isn't required that I pass them with a witness :confused:. Not sure what your question means.

yeah i was slightly confused by the question.. maybe she meant wasting narcs with a med tech?

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I am sorry for the confusion. Actually, what I meant is to count narcotics with the med tech.

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