follow up after PRN meds

[Amberfire]

On a continuing education video for certified medication aides it says that after giving PRN meds the Med Aide is supposed to do a "follow up" 45 minutes to 1 hour later to find out if the "problem" the medication was given for still exists. For example; the med aide should ask, "Does your back still hurt?" or "How is your headache?"

I am a CNA and have never worked as a Med Aide yet. I have passed the state test for Med Aide. However, my class training was so poor and insufficient. I'm trying to learn all I can, on my own, before I attempt to work in a facility.

Anyway, It seems to me that the 'follow up" I described above ---( that they say the medication aide is supposed to do) is an "assessment" that should only be done by a nurse. Am I wrong? What is the difference between a "follow up" and an "assessment"?

[brownbook]

I am terrible at technical definitions of words.

But I think you are over thinking this. You have received a certification to be a med aide. Of course, yes, you can ask a patient if their feeling better or how's their headache.

However I've never worked with med aides. Are you then allowed to give another dose? Or do you let the RN know the patient is still complaining of pain?

[TX.RN.Shannon]

A lot of the actual PRN meds have to be given by the nurses, in the facilities I have worked in. It is because of the nurse having to "assess" and decide which medication to give per the practitioner's orders.

However, if your facility allows you to administer PRN meds, you will probably get a prompt (if your company is computerized), to "follow up" after a set amount of time. For example, you give 2 Tylenol 500mg tabs to Mr. Jones at5pm for his headache that he rates as a 5 out of 10. At 6pm, you will get a prompt (a message or different color) to indicate that you need to enter a follow-up. Then you'd say that his pain was 0/10 at 6:15 pm.

[Possum_RN]

Are there other med aides, or a nurse you trust, or (better yet) a policy manual you can consult?

I know as a nurse at my facility, its insufficient to say "the patient reports feeling better" for a PRN pain med - there has to be a before/after numerical pain assessment, either the 1-10 patient-reported one, or a FLACC score (if, say, they are asleep when you re-assess, or are non-verbal). For a PRN anxiety med, for example, they will accept a patient's report, or an entry like "PRN anxiolytic medication effective, as evidenced by decreased muscular rigidity and return of deep, unlabored breaths".

These strike me as very "nurse-y" assessments. But I have not worked with med aides since I was a CNAI, so I'm unfamiliar with their scope of practice. Best to consult someone familiar with your facilities policies.