Should medication aides exist?

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  1. This is a discussion on Should medication aides exist? in Nursing Issues On Patient Safety, part of General Nursing ... Medication aides should not exist. Nurses must band together to fight against taking our skills and...

    by Jun 5, '08
    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?
    Poll: Should medication aides exist?

    • Yes

      23.11% 116

    • No

      69.12% 347

    • Not Sure

      7.77% 39
    502 Votes
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    by BradleyRN Jun 5, '08 6:00 pm
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    sevensonnets, MAISY, RN-ER, Patient_Care_Asst, and 12 others like this.
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  3. 160 Comments so far...

  4. Jun 5, '08 by
    No, absolutely not. I'll never, ever work with them.
    LovemykittyRN, sevensonnets, Skeletor, and 2 others like this.
  5. Admin
    Jun 5, '08 by
    Nope - should be licensed nurses.
    acerbia, LovemykittyRN, sevensonnets, and 3 others like this.
  6. Admin
    Jun 5, '08 by
    No, agree should be licensed nurses.
    sevensonnets, BradleyRN, and Jessy_RN like this.
  7. Jun 7, '08 by
    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.
    rhondaa83 likes this.
  8. Jun 7, '08 by
    Quote from 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.

    You didn't need a med aide, you needed another nurse.

    Just because you are busy doesn't mean the pts deserve less. We are their advocates and unlicensed people passing meds is not in their best interests.
    acerbia, sevensonnets, MAISY, RN-ER, and 20 others like this.
  9. Jun 7, '08 by
    Quote from cardiacRN2006
    No, absolutely not. I'll never, ever work with them.
    My view too. As long as there is one licensed nurse who wants to work but can't get a job, there should be no lesser qualified people doing the tasks of licensed nurses.
    sevensonnets, sharpeimom, tishirajan, and 8 others like this.
  10. Jun 16, '08 by
    NO NO NO!!!! 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.
    acerbia, cardiacRN2006, tishirajan, and 3 others like this.
  11. Asst. Admin
    Jun 16, '08 by
    I am in Texas, where medication aides are very common, especially in the nursing home setting. While they are helpful, I'd much rather be working with another nurse any single day of the week.

    If a patient has a question for the med aide, they'll respond, "Ask the nurse!"

    If a family member is questioning the med aide, they'll reply, "There's the nurse!"

    If someone voices a complaint, the med aide directs all inquiries to the nurse.
    MAISY, RN-ER, tishirajan, BradleyRN, and 4 others like this.
  12. Jun 16, '08 by
    We have SVQ 3's who are supposed to be competent to pass medications.I have had several complaints about ,for instance, how they give nebulisers etc.They don't know the side effects or contra indications.I can see a time when we are out of a job because they will be a cheaper option!
    sevensonnets, tishirajan, OldMareLPN, and 3 others like this.