Medication Aides

[M&MRN2005]

HI. I am new. I am a nursing student scheduled to graduate in May. My state is proposing legislation soon regarding Medication Aides. I am very leary of the wording of the proposal because it states that these aides are mandatory in non-healthcare facilities such as: daycares, prisons, schools, group homes, and long term care facilities. However, it is optional for other healthcare facilities such as acute care facilities. I know programs such as this has passed in over half of the states. Does anyone have any imput? How is it working? Has there been any problems? Are med errors increasing? It really bothers me because these people have no prior medical experience and will have 24 hours of training. The RN will delegate to them. This is real scary. This program came about in our state because these med aides were already working in some of these facilities and had no formal training. From what I understand, this is suppose to help alleviate the nursing shortage for our state. I am looking for help, please. I would love your imput and any suggestions.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

(Taking 3 Advil, and going back to the letter-typing drawing board......)

[SmilingBluEyes]

UAP have no business giving medications. For many reasons. I support 150% the NC nurses' fight to stop this. It's sneaky and wrong---esp making it a "rider" on another bill. DISGUSTING. :angryfire

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

Too scarey to think about. No disrespect, but some UAP's I met in NC could barely write, much less be responsible for medication administrations. I guess application of some topical creams/ointments, application of O2, and vitamins could be considered, but medications need to be given by an individual with some solid training. I have written to the board, lodged my complaint, I hope the nurses win this fight. Patient safety is at stake.

[katwoman7755]

Wow.....

I can't believe that this could even exist....what all is your BON/nurses doing to try to fight this??? I mean, our BON has done alot of lobbying over the years to really keep the roles of RN's and LPN's quite separate...so I can't even imagine UAP passing meds....my God, what do they keep the nurses around for? We really need to become aware and involved in our state organizations as a whole....b/c you can't blame the bean counters...i mean, think of the money they can save having just anyone pass meds? They aren't interested in pt safety....things like this can have huge effects on nursing as a whole down the road. I hate to hear you all are having to deal with this.

Kathryn

[suzy253, RN]

Yikes! Not good. :eek:

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

Again!!! Vicky, did'nt we just go through this not to long ago??????

[VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN]

Again!!! Vicky, did'nt we just go through this not to long ago??????

Yes, we did. This is the resurrection of NC Senate Bill 662 and NC House Bill 783, both of which were tabled in committee after 12 of the 14 members of the NC Board of Nursing voted to no longer support this very dangerous legislation, back in the May NCBON meeting. At that point, the executive director of the NCBON vowed to bring the medication aide back. It was tacked on to the very popular 2005 Appropriations Act (NC Senate Bill 622) as "back-door legislation," which apparently has passed. This is a very dark day for nursing in North Carolina.

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2005/Bills/Senate/HTML/S622v7.html

[annlet]

Already have them in Nevada!!! See my plea for help under "Long Term Care and Geriatrics" Forum!!!!!

I feel your pain!

Annlet

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

No offese, but this is scarey. So much schooling and education is going to be bypassed if this shall ever go into effect (how unfair too).

[krob0729]

Well, let's see...I observed surgery in the OR one day in clinicals...maybe 2 (24 hours). Guess I need to sign up for my surgeon license... :barf01:

[Katnip, RN]

And to think my husband and I were thinking of looking at N. Caroliina after the kids were grown and gone. Not in this lifetime if one of us ends up in a nursing home down the road. I shudder to think of having UAPs giving me or any loved one medications. And I love my UAPs.

Any way to get a good article or two published in newspapers around the state? I'll bet the average person would love to hear about the average education and literacy of some of those folks who are giving out medications, and the relative dangers.

[M&MRN2005]

i may be out of line with my post, but here goes.

i am glad to see that nc is getting some feedback on this issue. yes, at the 11th hour, this legislation was slide into the 2005 appropriations bill. how sad! please keep in mind: this was all after the board of nursing voted "that an rn could not delegate the task of medication administration to a medication aide and after the north carolina community college system decided not to add medication aide to their cirriculum."

i am sure that the public and even the rn's and lpn's of nc would love to hear about this legislation. not only are these uap's/med aides going to be in ltc, our schools have been targeted now. these two target areas house our most vunerable populations: our children and our elderly. i am the designer of the website www.ncpama.org. referenced in an earlier post. i applaud the nc nurses forum for taking on this issue because i believe that an informed public can have an opinion and should be given the opportunity to make an informed decision, instead of having an issue shoved down their throats, as this is.

i wrote my legislators and here is part of my plea to them.

:rotfl: "... "the nc board of nursing states, "the medication aides will administer "routine" meds." what constitutes routine meds? all medication can have potentially dangerous side effects, especially in our elderly and compromised patient's. they are an extremely fragile group of people who very often are subjected to medication errors even from licensed personnel whether it is a doctor, pharmacist, or a nurse. the legislation proposed is focused mainly on medication aides passing meds to our elderly population. (and now schools)what does this say about our society? how much value do we place on our elderly (and now young) population? what about the disabled? are they, too, such a disposable group of people?

i have worked very hard and made a lot of sacrifices to get through nursing school. i will obtain my license shortly after may 2005. my purpose for going to nursing school was to study hard, learn nursing theory, criticial thinking skills, pharmacology, and clinical abilities. i have learned to apply theory to practice and know the side effects of medications i give to my patient's. i know when to question a dose of medication or whether to hold a medication. there is so much more to learn. i, as a future nurse, would never delegate medication administration to a person who has had 24 hours of training. plus, if they make a medication error, it is my license. i cannot take the risk of supervising these aides. this is unacceptable! we are taught in nursing school, to never administer a medication drawn up by another registered nurse or you could lose your license. i am not just passing medications and neither should a medication aide.

let me say, that medication aides are not the answer to the impending nursing shortage. the answer to the nursing shortage is money and resources for educational facilities and nurse educators. solving the nursing shortage would put an end to this potential unsafe practice and provide the care our clients are entitled to and deserve. medication administration is so much more involved than just giving a person a pill. our primary function should be patient safety and medication aides do not ensure patient safety.

there are still too many unanswered questions regarding this program. how will problems be identified if this program takes off? would a charge nurse, nurse supervisor or physician take the responsibility of these aides administering medications under their supervision? medication aides pose a constant and direct safety threat to the nursing population. i do not support the administration of medications by medication aides in any setting. i urge each of you to really research this. do not just talk'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">just talk to doctors or facilities. i encourage each of you to go out and talk to nurses in all healthcare settings. after all, they are the profession most affected by this proposed legislation. if this passes, i hope there are many other written stipulations prior to implementation of this program. patient safety should always be our main focus!

there are over one million medication errors in the u.s. that are documented by medical professionals. these errors are made from professionals with many hours of schooling. do our patient's mean so little to our society, that we can subject them to the lesser trained? how many patients in that time frame will be injured or die before our eyes are opened? if this answer is even "one" that is too many. let me ask you, "would you want a person to take a 3 day course to give you, your child or one of your loved one's medication?

i have had 5 general replies to my letter from our legislators thanking me for my letter. plus, two sincere replies, whom i believe actually took the time to read my letter. it is a sad day when we, the taxpayers, are not given the opportunity to decide what is best for ourselves and our loved ones.

some say to give up, but i say to go forward. there will come a day soon when the general public will have a chance to speak regarding this subject. until that time, i encourage each of you to continue to write your legislators and your local newspapers. ask your neighbors have they heard about this legislation? tell this story and pass the word. the general public has the right to know.