Should medication aides exist?

Nurses Safety

Published

  1. Should medication aides exist?

    • 116
      Yes
    • 347
      No
    • 39
      Not Sure

502 members have participated

Medication aides should not exist. Nurses must band together to fight against taking our skills and giving them to under-qualified persons. Sure we are overloaded with work, but they should hire more nurses to alleviate our burden. We should never accept an unsafe, undereducated "medication aide" to assist us. If they keep giving away our skills to uneducated people, soon we will be competing against them for jobs while they are willing to take half the pay. Then who do you think companies will hire?

Do you think medication aides should exist?

Specializes in med surg, pediatrics, geriatrics, family.
Are you saying that the DON is not a nurse, but a med tech?:uhoh21: Heck, I would be afraid as well...
Yes

I do not know if privately owned Personal Care Homes can operate under the beat of a different drum. They only started hiring LPN's five years ago.

I do not mind medication techs working in personal care or nursing home facilities. However, they should not be in charge of RN's or LPN's.

Specializes in Gerontology, nursing education.
I work with medication aides - sometimes they are assigned as shift leaders when a nurse is on staff. This happened to me last week - I was assigned nurse aide duty on third shift. The facility DON, who is also a med tech, assigned a med tech as shift leader instead of reassigning me the responsibility.

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Please tell me you're joking. The DON is a MED TECH?!?!? And you, an LPN, were assigned nursing assistant duties because a med tech was assigned as shift leader? Get out of there NOW. This sounds so unprofessional---and possibly illegal. You also might want to check your state's nurse practice act to see if this practice is even legal---and call your state BON with your concerns.

I agree with other posters that it is a travesty that unlicensed personnel are permitted to give medications in some facilities, especially LTC. Our elders deserve better. However, I can't say that a licensed nurse is necessarily safe---not when nurse:resident ratios in many LTC facilities are so high. 30 residents for one nurse on a day or evening shift is simply not safe---especially when so many LTC residents are very ill.

None of this will change until staffing ratios are mandated. Maybe we loudmouthed Baby Boomers will be outraged enough when we hit nursing home age that we will demand changes. Not holding my breath, however...

Specializes in Neuro, public health, LTC.

Are medication aides required to take pharm classes? Are they required to know the side effects and contraindications of the medications that they are passing? Are they aware of patient history and allergies?

Specializes in med surg, pediatrics, geriatrics, family.
Are medication aides required to take pharm classes? Are they required to know the side effects and contraindications of the medications that they are passing? Are they aware of patient history and allergies?
No, no, and no to all three questions.

The med techs take a brief course designed to train them to safely pass medications. They must renew every two years. This is not a pharmacology course. Other than a brief demographics sheet listing medications and known diagnoses for each resident, no one has access to resident records except administration. We do have access to medication paperback books. All three shifts do have nursing personnel on duty with a few med techs working alongside the nurses.

My concern was when another nurse called in sick, she was replaced as shift leader by a med tech while I was assigned patient aide duty. Responsibility for patient safety is on my shoulders as a licensed nurse whether I'm assigned as shift leader or patient aide.

Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Well.

Why don't we ask the patient if they are willing to take medications from an "aide" instead of a trained, licensed individual.

What do you think the answer is going to be?

Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

tennessee just passed legislation to allow certified medication technicians. you can see the bill here with the requirements to become a medication aide as well as the scope of practice.

i am very much opposed to this. my dad was in an alf in fl that had medication aides. he was not given his bp meds for almost a week because they "ran out". he provided his own meds from a mail delivery pharmacy because of his insurance. he was also on dialysis. who knows how many meds he actually missed. but they were not worried. i had to arrange to get his meds from a local pharmacy until his mail order supply arrived. oh.......and they lost a large amount of his medication that he brought with him from home when he was admitted.

i know there is a nursing shortage, but..............

Specializes in Alzheimers and geriatric patients.

I'm a CNA and we have a med tech on every shift. I can't count the times I've walked into a room to see meds sitting on a bedside table or had a med tech say "so-and-so was asleep when I went in so give them their meds when you go in there". and then I have to get the nurse because no way am I administering pills to anyone until I get my RN liscense!

I think overall it's a huge liability- the administrators are giving nursing duties to the techs and then they try to pass off those responsabilities to the aides. I don't think most techs see passing meds as this huge deal- mainly because after a 1 semester class they were able to do it!

I just personally think it's not the best idea.

I have to agree with the fact that I think there shouldn't be med aides. Sorry, but I have worked with several in LTC and all they do is pass meds and do notes and act like they know it all and refuse to help if you ask them. The ones I worked with thought that just because they were no longer CNAs then their S*** didn't stink. I have yet to work with one worth their salt.

I'm from Texas and like TheCommuter said, they always refer everyone to the nurse anyway. Even though they treat the aides like they know it all. Very annoying and frustrating. Just my:twocents:

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
tennessee just passed legislation to allow certified medication technicians. you can see the bill here with the requirements to become a medication aide as well as the scope of practice.

i am very much opposed to this. my dad was in an alf in fl that had medication aides. he was not given his bp meds for almost a week because they "ran out". he provided his own meds from a mail delivery pharmacy because of his insurance. he was also on dialysis. who knows how many meds he actually missed. but they were not worried. i had to arrange to get his meds from a local pharmacy until his mail order supply arrived. oh.......and they lost a large amount of his medication that he brought with him from home when he was admitted.

i know there is a nursing shortage, but..............

i read the site you provided and find it interesting. at least they are asking for 400 some odd hours in training; the ones here in new york only do a few weeks, approximately 80 hours. scary...

NO! Never! Med aides? What? I'm a new grad. but yall I have worked hard to get my licensure. I got valuable. . .dare I say. . . irreplacable training (though so much more comes with actual work experience) about signs, symptoms, side effects, contraindications, and administration of meds. How could I ever trust my license, my family's financial support, my life. . .LET ALONE the LIFE of MY Patients to unlicensed personel.

It starts with training unlicensed ppl to do meds next it will be procedures before you know it they won't be hiring nurse's for nursing jobs. . . . they will hire 2 ppl to do a nurse's job and still come out cheaper for the company all the while compromising patient care to save a buck. NOT WORTH IT! GIVE ME ANOTHER NURSE or I WILL JUST HAVE TO DO IT MYSELF! I didn't get into this profession to compromise my patients. . . We are here to help no one said it would be easy.

As nurse's we have to stand together to protect our jobs. . . AND out patients.

I'll play devil's advocate. Med Aides if properly trained and the hospital takes on their legal coverage, go to it. Most standard hospital floors (gen. med/surg- cardiac- ob) the patients get the same medication over and over. therefore, it becomes routine.

Specializes in Med Surg, LTC, Home Health.
Med Aides if properly trained and the hospital takes on their legal coverage, go to it.

Med Aides are not allowed in hospitals. They are only allowed in long term care. Therein demonstrates the fact that their capacity so so limited, that only defenseless vulnerable people who can barely tell this fact should be subject to their substandard care.

Maybe one day they will come up with "Assessment Aides".

CERTAINLY THE EDIT OF THIS POST HAS CHANGED IT'S ENTIRE MEANING....MAYBE ONE DAY THEY WILL COME UP WITH ASSESSMENT AIDE'S, AND ALL OF US NURSES CAN JUST GO ON HOME.

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