My LTC facility is starting to Hire Med Techs

[NC Girl BSN]

I work at a privately owned skilled facility and they are training some of the CNA's for 3 days to go out on the halls and pass meds. How on earth can you do that? It's not safe. I know the bottom line is to cut cost. I also heard that med techs can't pass narcs, do fingersticks, injections, treatments and tube feedings. What is the point? Currently on my hall 2/3 of the people get routine narcs. How is that gonna help me if I have to go right behind them and give them the narcs, injections, do all the paperwork, tubefeeding, etc. This job pays well and I hate to leave, but I'm not sure if I want to be responsible for med techs with such little training. I can definately find a job somewhere else but I'm pretty comfortable here. I guess I'm just gonna have to sit back and see how it all pans out. Does anyone work with Medtechs? How is the routine at your facility?

[AngelaLPN08]

I was a Med aid before I became an LPN. In hindsight I don't think I was a good one lol. I did not understand the medications, proper ways to administer and specific rules. I followed all of my rights, but I know with some BP meds i never knew about parameters, and checking apical pulses. I never knew what one was till school, nobody told me! 2 days of class and a 4 hour clinical thats IT! Not enought now that I know as much as I do.

I think they are a great resouce tho. If properly trained. They can free up a lot of time for nurses, however they should not be substituted for a nurse! They can be used geatly a long side of a nurse! Letting proper assessments and tx's dr rounds...all that good stuff! I love my pill passes tho! Wouldnt share them if I could! hahaha

[Candyheart]

As an LPN, I like the TMAs because they pass meds so I can get tx, charting and misc. done. They may pass meds but I'm the nurse so I make the decisions and the assessments. These things are time consuming so I am glad to have the TMAs to pass pills

[sasha2lady]

ahhh....key word in ur post is PRIVATELY OWNED......therefore...they can get away with med techs and that lack of training. AT my facility we dont have med techs...thank god....I am very very anti medtech even though im sure there are some really good ones out there..I dont want anyone else working under my license with meds. like you said...you'd be having to do all those other extra things....I do know that they can do injections...insulin only if they have some extra "training" and certification. My don brought that up at a nurses mtg one day and what she wanted to do was hire a med tech to do our rest home hall and do away with the cna 2 that does the tx's ...which again was no help to any other shift but 1st b/c on 2nd we do it all....no cna 2's no nothing...straight nurses do the meds, charts, admissions, orders, labs, etc....all of us nurses said no way to having a med tech and so...there is no med tech...I dont even agree with having a cna 2 do the tx's b/c omg....lemme tell ya...ive seen the tx's they do...and they SUCK!.... and 2 of the cna 2's that do tx's were former nursing students (they dropped out/ failed) who should by all means know how to follow and read an order...yet ...they dont...their tx's are sloppy and done incorrectly when they are even done at all...and they sign off that they have checked a place and that place is usually healed up or is worse......its a joke to have them doing it really....i might not think that if we had more competent tx cna's.

[systoly]

I've worked in states and facilities that do and in some that don't have non licensed personnel administer meds. Having a med tech, CMA, QMA or whatever the title is, never translated into more time - it always translated into more patients. Given the choice, I'd always opt to pass my own meds. Even the really good med techs didn't know when would be a good time to hold a med and all too often they would tell the patient,"it's not time for another pain pill", rather than report the pain. There is no doubt in my mind that the little education and training provided to qualify personnel to be med techs is doing the patients a great injustice. I don't feel that the med techs are responsible, but rather a system that places so little value on administering the $$$$ worth of meds it pays for. If you have to work with a med tech, teach them, teach them every shift. I've found that most are not only receptive to the nurse's input, but themselves feel they didn't get enough training.