I need some help

Hello, I'm new here but I have to write a research paper for my Leadership class and my topic Medication aides. I want to write about the pros and cons on the subject matter and to have the opinions of those nurses who have worked with med aides. Thank you for your help,

In my opinion, there are no pros to the use of medication aids. I must also note that I've never worked with medication aids, and I know you were looking for the opinions of those who have.

Nurses who have work with med aides, are usually terribly overworked and need all the help they can get.

They don't need a Med aide, then need less patients and more nurses. It's the wrong way to solve a problem.

They are in long term care places, but soon, they will infiltrate hospitals. It is a dangerous situation for all nurses who work with them and patients who's meds they are passing.

Just MHO...

What do you think is going to happen when there are even more patients when the baby boomers begin to need more help and with the nursing shortage how are we going to handle the over draft of paitents,

Not with medication aids. Just because there will be more patients doesn't mean we sacrifice thier safety with a band-aid fix.

The only 'pro' that I see regarding the use of medication aides is that it will decrease some of the workload on the nurse.

However, that 'pro' is negated by several CONS. First being patient safety. Usually, these med aides are poorly trained and there is no standard to their training or qualifications. One facility may train their aide for a month while another gives a quick one week class.

Second, there is the ambiguity of where liability falls if the med aide makes an error. Usually, the nurse is ultimately responsible for unlicensed personnel and the patient's outcome. As a nurse, I would not feel comfortable delegating medication administration even if it was allowed by my state Nurse Practice Act (which it is NOT). So I definitely don't want a facility that hires UAPs for this purpose, therefore, forcing me to pass on this responsibility.

Last, one of the most important aspects about safe medication administration is the ability to assess the pt for the need of that med, possible contraindications, and how the patient reacts to the med after administration. This is a huge responsibility and therefore has a large amount of liability attached to it. It is why nurses are nurses. We are trained in assessment. That degree of knowledge and skill does not need to be substituted for someone who has the bare minimum of knowledge regarding med administration.

:balloons: I would like to thank everyone who logged on and help provide their opinion and information for this paper that I'm writing for my leadership class. I'll let you all know how I did.

KMPena LPN (RN student)

:balloons: