Should medication aides exist?

I would not fault a person for being a med aide. I would warn them though that the risk of them hurting someone would be astronomically high. I dont think it would be easy to train someone that had a 4 day class to do a job that we spent years learning. It would take at least equally that long to train them. Of course they are a help to the nurse, they are doing a nurses' job! The point is, it shouldnt be an undertrained, uneducated med aide responsible for such a serious skill as giving out medications. It is not safe for the patients, nor is it safe for the longevity of our careers. It is kind of an insult to nursing to say that the hell we went through could be learned in just 4 days and by anybody! RN's are the cream of the student crop. Only the highest GPA's made it into the programs. I seriously doubt there is any prerequisite to being a med aide, except maybe a to have a name. Please know that im not jumping on you or any med aide. All RN's should have some degree of motivation to protect their skills from being given away to uneducated people. If not just for the preservation of our own careers, then think, one day we will be a patient too! Id rather look up and see a qualified RN than someone who had 4 days of training and a half hour of clinicals.

I have never worked with a med-aide...but I don't think that it would be practical at all....I would not feel comfortable one bit....I have LPN's passing meds in my facility and it works out great !!!

Added tid-bit----how about CMT's??? I went to have an IVP done and two different "techs" at the hospital tried to put an IV in...no luck and I have great veins....Finally, I demanded that they find an RN or I would do it myself !!!! After waiting 20 min. for them to find one, she came and zipped it right in...I thought I was in a car garage getting repairs with all the
"certified medical technicians" around and NO NURSES !!!!

What is that all about????

True- it is all about greed. But that is what capitalism is all about, isn't it?
So, what is the answer?
If states outlawed all med techs tomorrow- there would be no medications passed in thousands of LTC, ALF, RCF, etc. Until the system has produced enough nurses, what to do? Totally untrained staff giving meds in group homes- including tube meds.
I have seen mistakes by CMTs, LPNs, RNs, NPs, Docs... It happens. But, I have performed the LTC med passes, and would not do it full time.
Any ideas as to what the future might hold? How we could improve conditions during this "nursing shortage"?