Medication Aide - good as pre-nursing class?

[nadjjaa]

I'm just full of questions tonight...

I was thinking of getting my Med Aide this fall (I start nursing school in the spring). Will this help me at all in nursing school? Or is it just a waste of tuition? I heard it's difficult (at least, more difficult than CNA) and if it's not going to help me then I dont' really want to do it.

D

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

There are several threads on certified medication aides. Feel free to do a search on this topic.

As to whether it will help you in nursing school is a matter of opinion. But you will find that most nurses object to the use of medication aides, as they feel that it is dangerous for patients and overextending the nurse.

[nadjjaa]

It's unlikely that I'll ever work as a Medication Aide if I get the cert. My question was, will the knowledge I receive (about medications, etc) in the classes help me at all in nursing school?

[mom2michael, MSN, RN, NP]

It's unlikely that I'll ever work as a Medication Aide if I get the cert. My question was, will the knowledge I receive (about medications, etc) in the classes help me at all in nursing school?

Med Aids have been outlawed where I live. But a friend of mine got her Med Aid cert years ago and she said it did nothing for her in nursing school. She is also an EMT-B and a CNA, both of which she said did help her in school. She wasn't big on the Med Aid class and said she actually learned NOTHING about meds, just how to give them.

I am also an EMT-B and that was a good basic starting class for me and nursing. It taught me vitals, assessments, wound care, lung sounds, etc..... It has also provided me with a job through nursing school with flexiable hours (ER tech).

Good luck!!!

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

It's unlikely that I'll ever work as a Medication Aide if I get the cert. My question was, will the knowledge I receive (about medications, etc) in the classes help me at all in nursing school?

Don't you have Pharm your first semester??