Re: Should medication aides exist?
I was a med tech, and if you had asked me this question last year I'd have argued about how much easier CMTs make it on the nurses. BUT Let me share a personal expirience with you guys and hope I don't get flamed!!
My LTC routinely sends it's CNAs to a one semester class, and upon passing said class you are a CMT (certified med tech) and can pass meds. BUT they send more people than they need CMTs so they always have someone to call if they need a CMT. As a result, sometimes the CMT on the med cart hasn't passed meds in quite a while. Within 3 months of starting this job, I went to CMT school. I trained for 1 week on the cart after passing the class, but there were no full time positions as a CMT so I continued to work as aide. One day I got called in to work the cart (I had probably worked it 5 times or so in 4 months). I was cocky, no problem, passing pills was easy. Until I almost gave a resident a BP med...as he was bottoming out! I didn't understand the phisilogical aspect of passing meds. Thank god for the nurse who was around and stopped me from giving the pill. I was ashamed of myself. It's not that I was trying to hurt anyone, I was just ignorant. I never worked the cart again and let my CMT liscense lapse. I will never pass another pill until I am an RN.
If we keep letting CMTs pass pills blindly, the residents will suffer. And they are blind in the sense that they are taught little about drug effects with medical conditions, different reasons you shouldn't pass a med, etc... I know-i passed the class. We were taught major med groups and little else.
Please don't get to mad at me, I was naive and I have MORE than learned my lesson! I just thought some insight from someone who was a med tech would be helpful to the debate.
Med aides don't get trained to citically think!!! They just blindly pass the meds. 
LPN's or RN's should be the only ones passing medications. Even in LTC facilities. LTC needs more nurses though. No nurse should have to take 36 patients, ever. Even if the patients are " stable ". There are just too many variables for me to trust a med-aide with my license.( no matter how long the med-aide has been there) It only takes one time, one error in judgement to do the damage.
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