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.
Could it be....bear with me here, but could it be that some of the problem with nursing's image is that some folk who are in healthcare related fields but are not necessarily nurses present themselves to patient's and family's as such and leave an impression of less than the stellar professionalism and solid nursing knowledge that we know licensed professional nurses behold.
What I'm reading a lot of in these threads about Medication Aides is that many of the CMA's are referring to themselves as "nurses" and stating that they perform nursing functions which technically by law are not within their scope.
Do they introduce themselves to patient's and their family members as nurses? With the number of people in scrubs that patients are exposed to every day, how would they know who is a nurse and who isn't? I'm sure there are numerous patients who think that the med aide is a nurse. #1) I personally would NOT want txmustang to accidently represent me, a licensed RN.
How is nursing representated exactly? Does anyone get my point. It's not meant to be derogatory toward any one person, but I have to believe that this has some impact.
I just finished my last shift as a CMT hours ago. Although I had already planned to step down from the position when I was with my old company, our facility recently changed hands and I'm REALLY glad I'm not going to be a med tech anymore.
The new company does train and test its med techs more extensively than the old one did, but the med techs will have a LOT more responsibility. You see, all I did was pass meds (mostly pills), fax refill orders to the pharmacy, and act as shift supervisor (not much to supervise at night, though). It wasn't that difficult a job at the time.
The new company will have the med techs passing medications AND: doing wound care, testing blood glucose, documenting in progress and skin care notes, communicating directly with doctors about residents, delegating work and supervising staff, taking charge and using critical thinking in emergencies, etc. They will NOT do any caregiving duties. (At least the home health nurses will still be giving injections. Whew!)
I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable with that level of responsibility. As it is, they're turning the med techs into staff nurses. My boss esssentially acts as a nurse manager/on-call nurse. Some of my coworkers seem confused about my decision--they wonder why I'm getting nervous over nothing. Early this morning I refused to do blood sugars and told my coworker that since she had the training to do it and I didn't, I wanted her to do it. She seemed irritated and told me it wasn't hard; you just stick the person's finger and get some blood on a strip so the machine can read it. I still refused to do it. I was always told not to stick people. Period. Due to liability issues, the old company refused to allow us to test blood glucose. But the new company expects their med techs to take them.
I don't know; am I being unreasonable? I feel good about stepping down from my med tech duties, but it's hard not having much support at work. People think I'm doing this because I'm crazy, lazy, or because I lack backbone, self-confidence or ambition. Not the case at all. I just didn't feel comfortable stepping into a nurse's shoes after only four days' training.
Could it be....bear with me here, but could it be that some of the problem with nursing's image is that some folk who are in healthcare related fields but are not necessarily nurses present themselves to patient's and family's as such and leave an impression of less than the stellar professionalism and solid nursing knowledge that we know licensed professional nurses behold.
What I'm reading a lot of in these threads about Medication Aides is that many of the CMA's are referring to themselves as "nurses" and stating that they perform nursing functions which technically by law are not within their scope.
Do they introduce themselves to patient's and their family members as nurses? With the number of people in scrubs that patients are exposed to every day, how would they know who is a nurse and who isn't? I'm sure there are numerous patients who think that the med aide is a nurse. #1) I personally would NOT want txmustang to accidently represent me, a licensed RN.
How is nursing representated exactly? Does anyone get my point. It's not meant to be derogatory toward any one person, but I have to believe that this has some impact.
Anyway, just a thought....
Took the words out of my mouth :) It's what bothers me most about this issue; we have non-nurses giving the general public an inaccurate impression of nursing. Most patients and family members just see a person in scrubs; they don't see the initials on the badge or even know what those initials mean. The profession of nursing isn't respected enough by the general public as it is -- most people don't know what nurses really do. For the most part, all they see on TV is jokes about bedpans and sponge baths. It doesn't help us when a minimally educated and/or inarticulate person in scrubs walks into the room and hands the patient pills. I'M NOT SAYING THAT ALL CMAs/CMTs ARE INARTICULATE OR IGNORANT. I know many are intelligent and take their jobs seriously (especially the ones who are currently in nursing school). What really bothers me is the attitude that passing pills is "not brain surgery." The profession of nursing has enough of an image problem as it is. Even if these CMTs/CMAs aren't claiming to be nurses, odds are most patients and their families are assuming that's what they are. What kind of impression is that making?
Nurse posers are a big pet peeve of mine. Once, on my old critical care unit, a family member was overheard asking a PCT what a tech was. The PCT responded that she did everything the nurses did except give meds. I think part of the problem is that people don't know what they don't know. This particular PCT had been "in nursing" (as a tech) for 20 years and was "in nursing school" (taking pre-nursing courses). It was apparent to anyone who talked to her that she wasn't the brightest person in the world. Yet she believed that she was just as knowledgeable and competent as a nurse, and she encouraged others to believe it.
I can see both sides of this disscustion. I am a CNA and I am thinking of becoming a CMA. I dont see anything wrong with it .... when it comes to me. I have a lot of experience with giving meds. I was going to school to become a pharmacist but, Im just too old. I read my drug book like its my Bible. I was a nursing student. I took a break from school to work and move to a new state. I know my stuff. I know what to look for when giving meds. If, I dont know, I look it up...just like normal people do. On the other hand, I can see where a RN would not want someone with no formal training or experience to pass meds under their license. Most CNA's cant even give a thorough bed bath let alone try to pass meds. I hate to say that. Im sorry but, it was just an example. Maybe if there was more training ,involved the nurses would feel more secure?
I have a question to the RN's. Is it your license that you are worried about? or is it the patient's safety?
Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.
I would be more than happy to adjust if the training were adequate to handle a important job such as handing out medications. In Texas, I know the CMA's I work with went 4-5 hours a day ,2 days a week x 3 months. Then they go to clinicals ,which is a whoppin 10 hours. Big deal, most of that time of figuring out how to open the med cart or just pure med cart orientation. I'll never forget one student I was working with that was looking for the Vicoden in the routine meds and the Colace in the Narc box. I just laughed and laughed, of course after she left.
What do you mean about back ground, Being a CMA, is still going to school and learning, I am a CNA right this second and that doesnt make me unapropreaite, these are'nt people that they just grab off the street. The way i see it is that The RN's are afraid of someone trying to take their jobs, Being an RN these days is so much paper work that they dont have alot of connection with patients, and people that go into being a CMA still have the connection that they had as a CNA, thats why they want to be a CNA the conection, do you honestly think that hosp,or LTC facilities would have a person passing druggs if they had'nt been schooled for it? But you have your thoughts about it and your minds made up, Just dont close the door to any adjusting.
Someone like you would be great but I think it is the 'others' you mentioned that would make it dangerous.
They need to come up with a very through test that would 'weed' the unqualified out.
Good luck to you and my compliments for hanging in there all these years.
I can see both sides of this disscustion. I am a CNA and I am thinking of becoming a CMA. I dont see anything wrong with it .... when it comes to me. I have a lot of experience with giving meds. I was going to school to become a pharmacist but, Im just too old. I read my drug book like its my Bible. I was a nursing student. I took a break from school to work and move to a new state. I know my stuff. I know what to look for when giving meds. If, I dont know, I look it up...just like normal people do. On the other hand, I can see where a RN would not want someone with no formal training or experience to pass meds under their license. Most CNA's cant even give a thorough bed bath let alone try to pass meds. I hate to say that. Im sorry but, it was just an example. Maybe if there was more training ,involved the nurses would feel more secure?
I have a question to the RN's. Is it your license that you are worried about? or is it the patient's safety?
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.
There is far more to passing meds than just giving them out. I think this is a VERY BAD IDEA!
yes!! this is becoming quite the thing. currently in the state of nc medication techs can pass meds in an assisted living facillity...they count controlled substances, annotate on the mar and fax orders ....send out the mar for signature, write orders and send out for signature. the state does not require an rn in these facillities full time..most are contract..check the techs off....go figure...not sure how i feel about this....went to school a long time...so far i have not seen alot of structure in the progam...falls under nc facillities, i think.
The best thing to do is decide for yourself if you want this HUGE responsibility for information that simply CANNOT be learned in just a few days/weeks. It takes nurses years to learn the "ins and outs" of med administration. I find it a travesty that they would simply allocate this responsibility to people with a few weeks' or less, training. It's dangerous to me.
I completely understand where you are coming from. It DOES take years to learn the in's and out's of medication administration. HOWEVER, this applies to both the Med Aide as WELL as the Nurse. If there is a med aide course in some state that only trains for a couple of weeks, that is very scary. But, here in Texas the CMA course consists of more than 130 hours and the Med Aide course I personally attended was OVER 160 hours that included numerous clinicals, description of lots of common and most prescribed meds and lots of uncommon meds. We also learned, FOR EACH med we studied, the side effects, correct monitoring, when to ask a nurse, what to do if we see certain side effects etc. And, just like in NURSING school, we created drug cards, too. The primary focus within my personal course was noticing side effects of meds. I am a Masters student in Nursing right now at UT Austin and from my undergraduate study (as is very common with most programs) I only took a Pharmacology course pertaining to medications that was a full semester long (beg. of sept till beg. of december). My Med Aide class was from the BEGINNING of August until the END of December. My med aid class prepared me much more fully than the Pharmacology course. Texas is differen't than any other state in it's requirements. If you want to transfer your CMA to TX your course MUST have met the minimum amouunt of hours that TX requires or no transfer is granted. There isn't a single state in the US that requires as much training for their CMA so the likelyhood of having enough hours to transfer it is not common. Also, med aides are REQUIRED to have a yearly refreasher class (in TX) for most of the new meds PLUS regular license renewal whereas nurses just have a license renewal. So, especially to nurses who have worked in geriatrics, respect your med aides and don't think of their job/position as "dangerous" if you are in TX. There are always good nurses and bad nuses and the same applies to CMA's, too. I can't speak for those out of TX but, I can say with confidence that the average med aide in TX is almost better prepared to pass the medications in a MAR than most nurses who (me included) have spent their shift performing fingersticks and filling out paperwork for their residents and haven't had to pass a med for weeks. Nurses should thank god for their CNA's as this was originally their job in the early years and nurses should thank god NOW (in TX at least) that they now have Med Aides because, not too long ago, this too was their job. Just like you don't like it when an RN comes up to you and says "OH! you're just an LVN". Don't be that LVN/RN that goes up to a Med Aide and says "OH! you're just a CMA". THis perspective coming from both sides of the isle as I was a CNA, CMA, LVN, RN and am now finishing my MSN with peds. practioner license. I have worked the ranks and come to understand that GIVING respect and not attacking someones certification/degree lends to a better working atmosphere thus creating a great enviornment for patients and residents alike. (please keep in mind that this post is mainly applicable to CMA's in TEXAS as the training here is very rigorous in most cases)
I feel good about stepping down from my med tech duties, but it's hard not having much support at work. People think I'm doing this because I'm crazy, lazy, or because I lack backbone, self-confidence or ambition. Not the case at all. I just didn't feel comfortable stepping into a nurse's shoes after only four days' training.
begalli
1,277 Posts
Could it be....bear with me here, but could it be that some of the problem with nursing's image is that some folk who are in healthcare related fields but are not necessarily nurses present themselves to patient's and family's as such and leave an impression of less than the stellar professionalism and solid nursing knowledge that we know licensed professional nurses behold.
What I'm reading a lot of in these threads about Medication Aides is that many of the CMA's are referring to themselves as "nurses" and stating that they perform nursing functions which technically by law are not within their scope.
Do they introduce themselves to patient's and their family members as nurses? With the number of people in scrubs that patients are exposed to every day, how would they know who is a nurse and who isn't? I'm sure there are numerous patients who think that the med aide is a nurse. #1) I personally would NOT want txmustang to accidently represent me, a licensed RN.
How is nursing representated exactly? Does anyone get my point. It's not meant to be derogatory toward any one person, but I have to believe that this has some impact.
Anyway, just a thought....