Medication Aides

stressednurse · May 8, 2004

In personal care and assisted living nurse aids and care givers can administer medications. Depending on the situation, you may adminster medications from a prepared cup or from a bubble pack.

azgirl · May 8, 2004

We have med techs in assisted living and its on the books to be in LTC in a year or two.

SmilingBluEyes · May 8, 2004

You want someone to pass your meds....Hire a nurse!
-Russell

HERE, HERE! I would much rather a trained nurse do this than any aide given a few week course in med passes, thank you. And the consumer ought be made aware of hospitals cutting corners in employing such people to do this work. It is NOT right, sorry. I know I am stepping toes here, but I feel strongly on this issue. I want to be liable for MY practices, not CMA's working with me. They just don't have the extensive training nurses do for safe medication of patients.

SmilingBluEyes · May 8, 2004

soooooooooooooooo glad I am not in Kansas.

azgirl · May 9, 2004

The assisted living med techs get to watch a video on the 5 rights and give a rubber butt an injection and they are med techs. Scary isn't it?

AmethystVeralyn · Jul 25, 2004

I've never heard of medication aides. Are you licensed to do this? And do you give out narcotics?

The laws vary from state to state. In some states there are

CNA 1s CNA2s CNA3s and CNA4s. In North Carolina if someone has been a CNA they can get CNA2 training where they are taught LPN procedures and then after that they can get training to be a med tech.

CMTs do give out narcotics.

AmethystVeralyn · Jul 25, 2004

The assisted living med techs get to watch a video on the 5 rights and give a rubber butt an injection and they are med techs. Scary isn't it?

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If this is the case where you live there must be some way

you can have it changed. Do these people ever express

fear over their lack of training? I've seen people

be deathly afraid of passing meds or doing any skilled

nursing tasks without proper training.

I worked in a boarding house once where it was legal to

pass meds as a CNA because I was a live-in and the

state law was written to qualify live-ins as family

members who can legally give meds.

I was not expected to know what they were for or

anything about them and there was no med book there.:stone

I was never taught the rules of charting immediately

for each patient or checking the med three times

(which are important basic rules) I was only taught to

read the book and set up the meds and give them.

At that time I had only done injections on animals and

was lucky to also have studdied them in a nursing class.

When I mentioned that I

needed to be oriented to giving shots I was asked,

"What's the problem with giving the injections?" :uhoh21:

I explained that when you give it in the wrong places you

can paralyze someone. Also you risk getting intermuscular shots in a vein.

It was only after explaining this that I was taught how to give injections.

AmethystVeralyn · Jul 25, 2004

I worked as a CNA in a place where all CNAs were referred to as nurses even by the charge nurses. If someone would ask me a question about meds

or an issue over my head I would always send them to

the charge nurse.

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Flo, it is ILLEGAL for a CNA to tell
patients he/she is a nurse just as it is illegal for a nurse to tell patients he/she is a doctor. This is quite serious & should be addressed.
There is a reason nurses go to nursing school. We study hard -- learn nursing theory, CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS, pharmacology, and clinical skills. We learn to apply our theory to our practice & know the side effects of the medications we give our patients.
We know when to question a med, hold a med, etc. There is so much to know -- we're not just passing meds -- it involves so much more. I don't even like other nurses to pass my meds for me -- I would NEVER (I'd quit first) delegate a med pass to a CNA even if it became legal. I've worked too hard for my license and the personal/professional liability is far too great.
Have a wonderful healthy happy sunny weekend. Sue

Rn2b204 · Jul 25, 2004

It is so amazing to me how nurses talk down on other professions like the one you are talking about in this thread CNA, CMA, and MA. I happen to be a CNA and have been for 12 yrs. I have also trained in the military as a EMT-B, and I have also got my Phlebotomy training as well. I have never passed meds, but I have started IV's , draw blood, did straight caths, foley caths, sterile and non-sterile wound care. I have also assisted in a codes and the physician when needed.In military we are allowed to give injections too.

We are not trying to take your job some of us are happy with the jobs we have and just because we are not RNs doen't make us any less of a person. And if we are being refered to as a nurse just because we wear the same scrubs why is that so threatning to you??? I think the patient/ client see us as all PROFESSIONALS and may ask us a question that only a RN or LPN can answer that is fine. I wouldn't dare give advice on something that I don't know anything about and I would tell the person that I am not a nurse and have no problem referring them to one and I'm sure none of us do.

I think if you feel as thought your license is on the line because the facility you work at staffs CNA, MA etc. then don't work there. But first some of you need to find out exactly what type of training we have instead of assuming and thinking just because we didn't go to school for 2+ years we don't know anything and we can't be taught. I know I was trained by RN's, Medical lab technologist, and Dr's.

Most CNA's are using that as a stepping stone to becoming RN's one day and I think that is good for them and the nursing shortage.

And to that person that made that coment on some CNAs not having a HS diploma but a GED....there are nurses that didn't graduate from high school and went on to get their GED and on to college. Yes, nursing schools except GED applicants. And what about a Nurse practitioner/ physician assistant she/he doesn't go through schooling nor training a doctor has should she be able to perform like a doctor and should the doctor take on that burden by having them work under them??? I don't think they complain as much as nurses do. And if they do I'm sure it's about something of importance.

And some of us need to not be so cruel when talking about CNA, MA, etc. because there are some that all they want to do is be just that CNA or CMA.They don't need to hear nurses putting down the profession harping on how much school they had or didn't have and they are not competent because it wasn't as long as a nurse. It wasn't meant to be. You are missing the whole point.

Nursing is so divided right now it's pitiful. Y'all complain about ADN, Diploma degrees, BSN on up to PH.D level.(who's the best, who's the greatest) The higher up one goes the more they seem to look down on each other when in fact you all sat for the same NCLEX to become REGISTERED NURSEs 1ST......or was it different??? NOPE!

Just through that out there to say you all are never satisfied with other professions nor your own. STOP COMPLAINING AND HELP MAKE SOME CHANGES for the better. Don't just try to eliminate someones job because you feel your job is in jeopardy because of ones SCRUB OUTFIT AT WORK/ mistaken identity or because they have been certified to pass meds

Some of y'all just sound miserable.....

Rn2b204, :balloons: :balloons:

I hope I will be an inspiration and not an irritation when I become and RN.

sorry for this being so long and all the errors I get long winded at times. :) :)

natasha700 · Jul 25, 2004

I can't for the life of me understand why someone would try to carve out a piece of what a nurse does and make it legal! There is more to just giving meds. There is a thought process involved. I agree another tactic of not paying a REAL nurse to do his/her job! Ridiculous!

wonderbee, BSN, RN · Jul 25, 2004

I'm a student RN working as a tech on a med/surg floor. This is what occurs to me. If as a tech/aid... whatever you want to call me, I'm drawing blood, taking VS Q4h, performing accuchecks, running 12-leads and administering medications, where do I find the time to bathe, feed, position, give mouth care, assist with elimination, transport and tend to the basic needs of our patients? My point is, this is no great advantage to the unlicensed assistive personnel either because they are going to get paid the same dollar for more work and responsibility. I dare say that my facility is getting more than their money's worth with the $10/h base pay I get. If I have to begin administering meds too, why not get my LPN license?

Guess their going to have to create a position to assist the aides. It's all too crazy.

KacyLynnRN · Jul 25, 2004

My cousin became a CNA, then a QMA, and she never even graduated high school (got a GED.)

Excuse me...what does graduating from high school have to do with being a nurse?? I did not graduate high school, I got a GED, went to LPN school, am now an LPN, and am currently in an LPN to RN program. Just because I didn't graduate high school does not make me any less worthy of being a nurse, as you seem to insinuate! :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire