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| No. 80 | 
Jul 28, 2008, 01:56 PM
 Re: Should medication aides exist? Originally Posted by BradleyRN  I dont have all the necessary facts? medication errors
Follow that link and you will see that "Each month, nearly one out of every ten nursing home residents suffers a medication-related injury". It is a few years old, and only one state, but you can bet it is a microcosm of the entire country. With the high number of medication errors that exist already just by nurses, it is such an ignorant concept that someone with a fraction of the training (4 days!) should be considered "qualified" to perform the same task. Medication Aides are not used in every state, YET. But our apathy for giving away our skills is doing nothing to thwart the spread. I sent a letter to the ANA and CNA regarding this issue several weeks ago, but have not received a reply as of yet.
Though i have not crunched the numbers on nurses, i do not see that you have either. You seem to base your evidence on your own experience as an agency nurse. "No, there are not enough nurses to cover all of the non-nurses currently giving medications at all of these facilities." Would you care to cite your source for this "fact"? In my nearly 8 years with an LTC facility, they refused to use agency as did other facilities. I dont think this practice was limited to my city and state either, as i have read the same complaints from others in this forum. It seems to be a choice to be short-staffed, and is certainly not based on calling agencies and being told "Im sorry, we are all out of nurses today". If these facilities would lower the hideous nurse/pt ratios and increase the wages, perhaps they could attract more nurses, maybe even the 17% that are not currently nursing.
I have already made it clear that ALF's have every right to use med aides. Their residents are required to be A&OX3, and it is up to them and their families to guarantee the safety of their medication administration.
Meanwhile, until you can provide actual evidence that there are not enough nurses to replace the med aides, i will continue to base my disdain for this practice on advocating for the elderly due to their compromised safety, and our loss of the most fundamental nursing skills to uneducated people .
The elderly are one of the most underserved groups in this country, not due to a shortage of nurses, but due to greed. 
You are right- I based my opinion on my own experiences, not only in agency. Having passed medications at LTC, I would never do it full time. Attempting to crunch the numbers, I find myself lacking in the www skills necessary to locate census in LTC, RCF, MRDD group homes, ISL, etc, not to mention number of Level I, II, and III medication aides (identified this way in my state).
Any ideas on where to get the info?
 | | Advertisement Sponsored Links | | | | No. 85 |
Aug 22, 2008, 05:20 PM
Re: Should medication aides exist? Originally Posted by calliesue Sorry gotta disagree. Maybe not in hospitals but in ltc when I have had up to 36 pts I was glad to have a med aide.
Like others have said, in instances like that, more NURSES should be hired.
It is extremely dangerous to have personnel administering DRUGS who have no education on pathophysiology, mode of action, critical side effects, etc.
Look at the hundreds of people who die each year from medication errors!!! Untrained staff administering drugs is unsafe patient practice, period. | | No. 86 |
Aug 24, 2008, 12:09 PM
Updated
Aug 24, 2008 at 12:19 PM by klwtiger
Re: Should medication aides exist?
I began in an assisted living facility as a med aide and even at that time as I held the position I didn't feel the overall concept was a good idea. Too man of my fellow med aides did not take the time to learn about drug interactions side effects etc. As I was enthralled with the field of nursing I learned everything I could about the conditions and medications of my patients but as that is not required or expected many others blindly gave medications and treatments and MANY errors were made. And as for the residents required to be A&O X 3 in know in Washington and California that is not the case as both places I have worked have Assisted livings all over with Alzheimer's dementia units and though the residents are ambulatory for the most part they are by no means A&O X1 even a lot of times, so for all they know they could have not received their medications in a month and would never know the difference.
| | No. 88 |
Aug 25, 2008, 03:33 PM
Updated
Aug 25, 2008 at 03:37 PM by atiya000
Re: Should medication aides exist?
Should medication aides exist........ In what setting I have worked in group homes for many years. As part of my job duties I am required to admin. medication This is approved, monitored and certified by the state.
Do not get me wrong I do not think that I should be giving medication outside of this setting ... but because I have worked in this field for a long time, I now have the opportunity to attend LPN school with some basic knowledge of the five rights. Being in this field has given me some experiences that I might not have received other wise.
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