Do any of you know much about these? They keep going on and on about it in my CNA class. I guess the state of North Carolina will be listing the position on the NC Board of Nursing next year. The instructors seem to think that a lot of opportunities and job openings will be avaliable to them.
Learn the skills and information you will need to take the state Med Tech Exam.
Our Med Tech class includes instruction on:
Safe medication administration
Proper infection control
Medical Terminology
Physician orders & transcribing
Medication monitoring techniques
Methods to monitor RX effects/side effects/adverse reactions
Proper storage of medications
Proper documentation procedures
Reference/resources in Rx administration.
I'm just wondering is this is something that's being "hyped up". Or if this will be a more common job.
well....we've had medication aides in the state of texas for years now, and havent had any problems. if they did, they wouldn't allow it anymore. if anybody wants to show me some research pointing out medication aide errors, then show me. other wise i'm going to stand my ground saying that i'm a good medication aide.
no one said you were a bad medication aide. we aren't arguing with how you do your job; we are arguing about whether the job category should exist; big difference. realize, too, that most medication aides are probably not knowledgeable enough to get into nursing school, so you are definitely a cut above.
my unit has 46 people. how is one nurse going to pass all the meds, do treatments, peg tube feedings, assessments, call the doctors, and families and everything else and still look for side effects of the meds given. there just isn't enough time for them to do that. i give my meds, we watch our residents, the nurse reports any changes that anybody catches, and thats that. there has never been a problem. don't flame me just because i have faith in the medication aide program and none of you agree with it.
in your hospital, on your shift, that you know about. it's probably not to anyone's advantage to advertise any possible problems. as they say: "lack of evidence is not evidence of lack (of problems)."
im in nursing school right now...just finished my pharm class and it was terrible...what nursefirst tried to quiz me on, we didn't learn in school...i would like to hear replies from people working in long term care about having medication aides...not hospitals, because med aides here in texas can not work in a hospital...
i don't know where you are in your nursing training, but i hope you have some more pharmacology stuck away in some of your other courses. is this an lpn/lvn program or an rn program?
Alot of comments here are regarding the pharm course in school and how this makes nurses qualified to give meds. I did have a great pharm course back in '84, but if that is what I was falling back on to give meds in 2005, my patients would be in no better hands than they would be if a med tech passed their meds who had current knowlege. My point it, it is ongoing education that makes one competent to pass meds....not a pharm course in itself. Anyone who passes meds is only as good as their current knowlege, so the 20 year old pharm course is really not a great argument as far as why nurses should pass meds.
Alot of comments here are regarding the pharm course in school and how this makes nurses qualified to give meds. I did have a great pharm course back in '84, but if that is what I was falling back on to give meds in 2005, my patients would be in no better hands than they would be if a med tech passed their meds who had current knowlege. My point it, it is ongoing education that makes one competent to pass meds....not a pharm course in itself. Anyone who passes meds is only as good as their current knowlege, so the 20 year old pharm course is really not a great argument as far as why nurses should pass meds.
thank you - its all about the education behind the person passing the drugs..just because you are licensed or registered doesn't make you knowledgeable or smart in what you are doing? I bet I know a lot more about drugs that most of the nurses at the LTC place I work in....
I am in LVN school....with only 6 months to go, and being a med aide I have been able to help a lot of students get thru the pharm course and thru clinicals. And when I graduate Im going to work in the same place I do now as a med aide....maybe I will feel differently about passing meds, and maybe I won't. If I feel I am working with a med aide that doesn't know what they are doing, they I will discuss it then with the DON.
thank you - its all about the education behind the person passing the drugs..just because you are licensed or registered doesn't make you knowledgeable or smart in what you are doing? I bet I know a lot more about drugs that most of the nurses at the LTC place I work in....
I am in LVN school....with only 6 months to go, and being a med aide I have been able to help a lot of students get thru the pharm course and thru clinicals. And when I graduate Im going to work in the same place I do now as a med aide....maybe I will feel differently about passing meds, and maybe I won't. If I feel I am working with a med aide that doesn't know what they are doing, they I will discuss it then with the DON.
I doubt you'll feel differently about a competent med aide once you get your LPN, as you understand what's important; knowledge of the medication you are passing.
I came back into psych nursing from OB after a 10 year hiatus and I certainly was learning from some of the med aides (also had mental health certifications) and LCSW's I work with. Sure, I educated myself further as well, but it would have been a huge mistake to not listen to those who had been accruing knowlege right along since I had been out of the loop. Symbiax, Geodon, Abilify, etc...all new to me, but not to those who were in the field already. I'd have been a fool not to take advantage of such a great resource.
I have been a nurse for 15 years in various areas. I had students that did long term care rotation. Most of our med-passers were LPNs, some were CMT's. I think CMTs are used quite a bit around here. I would have no problem with someone who took an intensive course of med classes doing my meds for me in a LTC situation. In the hospital I work, they will often have nurses pass meds on the floors for the team nurses. There's no other options. You will sometimes be floated and pass meds to patients you don't even know. You hope to get report on them..which never happens because you come in to work and are already behind by 2 hours...and you pray that someone has written down who needs meds crushed and who doesn't. To me, that is a far less safe situation. I think there's too much hysteria about the CMTs. The nurse is ultimately responsible for his/her patients, that's true. However, we rely on RT to help w/ ventilators and breathing treatments, and some of them aren't more than just short course cert'd...we rely on PT and PT aides to help w/ ambulation. We rely on our floor aides to help us know what's going on w/ our patients, including any skin breakdown that might be developing. Are these things less important?
we rely on RT to help w/ ventilators and breathing treatments, and some of them aren't more than just short course cert'd...we rely on PT and PT aides to help w/ ambulation. We rely on our floor aides to help us know what's going on w/ our patients, including any skin breakdown that might be developing. Are these things less important?
Have you ever looked into an RT course? It is pretty intensive, and about the same length as the ADN program, if not more--and that is focusing on one system. The PT/OT is a 4 year degree. (Sorry, we don't use PT/OT aids either) And although it is expected that the floor aids report skin breakdown, it is you, the nurse, who assesses it. A med tech will never give meds to my patients, and I would never allow a med tech to give meds to my family--I don't care how easy it seems.
Somebody earlier mentioned a very good point, and that is once the med aide becomes a nurse (one of the nicoles) that she will feel differently about the whole subject. I have been a tech for too long, and I used to overhear RNs talk about UAPs and how they can be trouble for their license. I can tell you that I was soooo offended because I felt that they didn't understand how much I knew or how good I was. I felt like I was way better than a lot of nurses that I worked with. Then I got accepted into nursing school and I was put quickly in my place. I have a year to go and I feel like I haven't possible learned enough. For someone to not realize how much goes into 'just passing meds' is scary.
Alot of comments here are regarding the pharm course in school and how this makes nurses qualified to give meds. I did have a great pharm course back in '84, but if that is what I was falling back on to give meds in 2005, my patients would be in no better hands than they would be if a med tech passed their meds who had current knowlege. My point it, it is ongoing education that makes one competent to pass meds....not a pharm course in itself. Anyone who passes meds is only as good as their current knowlege, so the 20 year old pharm course is really not a great argument as far as why nurses should pass meds.
It isn't jsut the pharm course that makes nurses more competent than med aides to pass meds. It is the pharm course, the nursing courses, the clinical hours passing meds, the care plans, and the experience of a nurse who has assessed the meds that she/he has passed. You have 20 years of experience passing meds that no pharm course can touch. That's the point. The med aids cannot possible know how to perform an assessment, understand the A&P, anticipate the reactions, etC when she is passing meds out to 46 pts!
It isn't jsut the pharm course that makes nurses more competent than med aides to pass meds. It is the pharm course, the nursing courses, the clinical hours passing meds, the care plans, and the experience of a nurse who has assessed the meds that she/he has passed. You have 20 years of experience passing meds that no pharm course can touch. That's the point. The med aids cannot possible know how to perform an assessment, understand the A&P, anticipate the reactions, etC when she is passing meds out to 46 pts!
Who could keep track of how meds were reacting on 46 patients?? What I am saying is that a well educated med aide can be a valuable part of the team. They, too, gain experience over time, just as I have. The nurse I have become has come mainly from my clinical experiences, not from the classroom time, which I'll bet most of us recall little. We were all pretty useless those first weeks after graduation, head full of knowlege and all. I don't think it takes a nurse to recognize a particular reaction, but it does take education and experience. I think the nurse that thinks she can pass the meds for 46 patients and monitor all the effects is fooling themselves and a bit grandiose. Why not educate the med aides and CNA's since there is no way you can do it alone? I think the chip many attempt to carry around on their shoulders gets in the way at times. My positive experiences with med aides over the years has convinced me they can be valuable. No doubt in my mind about that.
Okay, I admit I'm lost. Do I understand it correctly that people who are not RNs or LPNs will be reading doctor's med orders and administering these meds to patients? Or do you have to have your RN or LPN to take the course and this just gets added to your resume?
If, it is for people other than RNs and LPNs, a few things come to mind to me as a lay person. Not taking sides, just some thoughts and observations.
More times than I want to know, nurses catch doctors writing meds that are going to interact badly with what the patient is already taking or writing meds
that are just wrong. Also, if (or when) there is a reaction to some of these drugs which are not termed 'potentially harmful' drugs, I think it would take a nurse with all her training to know what and how to turn the situation around and get the patient out of danger. Am I way off? Just need some education on this one please.
no one has said that med aides are "bad people", the issue is safety. Let's put it this way, when you go into the doctors office for common complaints, probably 75% of the time the RN could figure out what is wrong and know which drug needs to be used to treat the problem. This would be the case for patients with a normal presentation and hx. But what about the zebra? the person with atypical symptoms or multiple systems in stages of disease? to recognize, diagnose and treat people with abnormal presentations youwill most likely need a physician or an NP/PA. It is the same concept with medication administration. Most people can read correctly and follow directions to physically give the medication, but what about symptoms and recognizing problems that could be occuring when the patient has multiple medications? What about signs that the med is not working or is possibly causing an allergic response, etc... Now imagine knowing the risks involved with giving medications and knowing you are now responsible for another person giving meds under your license? I am not a nurse yet but, I know first hand how dangerous it can be for someone not truly qualified to take on this responsibility. It isn't about someone being a better, more honest person, it's about someone being more qualified for the job by virtue of education.
Do any of you know much about these? They keep going on and on about it in my CNA class. I guess the state of North Carolina will be listing the position on the NC Board of Nursing next year. The instructors seem to think that a lot of opportunities and job openings will be avaliable to them.
Learn the skills and information you will need to take the state Med Tech Exam.
Our Med Tech class includes instruction on:
Safe medication administration
Proper infection control
Medical Terminology
Physician orders & transcribing
Medication monitoring techniques
Methods to monitor RX effects/side effects/adverse reactions
Proper storage of medications
Proper documentation procedures
Reference/resources in Rx administration.
I'm just wondering is this is something that's being "hyped up". Or if this will be a more common job.
Ok, a word from the otherside, I am getting my CMA, and i live in a State were they have alwayed been used, The LPN's and RN's are free'd up to focuse on a patient that truely need extra care. There still is alot of things a CMA can not do, we are not trying to take anyones job, we just want to be able to help more then just being a CNA. Plus maybe RN's and LPN's wouldnt get burned out so fast if they were given a hand. But just my 2cents. The one thing that bothers me the most is that some of the comments about the CMA's make the CMA's sound like real idiots, so if i have a RN after my name that will give me more brains? Some people do regaurd some parts of the alphabit highly.
NurseFirst
614 Posts
i don't know where you are in your nursing training, but i hope you have some more pharmacology stuck away in some of your other courses. is this an lpn/lvn program or an rn program?
good luck to you, and keep up the good work.