New Med Aide Guidelines in Va!

[wildcats]

My state uses medication aides in ALF. The course used to be two 8 hour days. Starting July 1 they are becoming a little more strict. Here is part of the new training requirements. What do you all think? Here is the link to the page with a word document where you can view the entire thing: http://www.dhp.virginia.gov/nursing/

A student seeking enrollment in a medication aide training program shall have successfully completed the direct care staff training required by the Department of Social Services for employment in an assisted living facility or an approved nurse aide education program.

B. Hours of instruction. An approved program shall consist of a minimum of 68 hours of student instruction and training to include:

1. At least 40 hours of classroom or didactic instruction over and above any facility orientation program or training in direct client care provided by the facility;

2. At least 20 hours of supervised skills practice in medication administration to residents of an assisted living facility, after which the training program shall evaluate the student’s minimal competency in the clinical skills of administering medications on a form provided by the board. The clinical evaluation shall be conducted one-on-one with a qualified instructor with experience in medications in long term care; and

3. An eight-hour module in facilitating client self-administration or assisting with the administration of insulin to include instruction and skills practice in the administration of insulin as specified in the board-approved curriculum.

C. Content of the curriculum. An approved program shall use the curriculum developed and provided by the board which shall, at a minimum, include the following topics:

1. Preparing for safe administration of medications to clients in assisted living facilities;

2. Maintaining aseptic conditions;

3. Understanding of basic pharmacology;

4. Facilitating client self-administration or assisting with medication administration;

5. Following proper procedure for preparing, administering, and maintaining medications; and

6. Following appropriate procedures for documentation and reporting to the licensed healthcare professional on duty at the facility or to the client’s prescriber.

D. In addition to the training curriculum, the program shall provide one or more four-hour modules that can be used by facilities as refresher courses or by medication aides to satisfy requirements for continuing education.

[antidote]

I'm glad they're beginning to get a bit more strict about their scope of practice and training! They're a great asset to LTC's and I think they really make the jobs of the RN's and LPN's much easier!

Although personally I do believe that individuals passing medications should be either an LPN or RN (due to the more in depth pharmacology training), I'm really glad to hear they're stepping it up a bit.

[wildcats]

Although personally I do believe that individuals passing medications should be either an LPN or RN (due to the more in depth pharmacology training), I'm really glad to hear they're stepping it up a bit.

I agree that a licensed nurse should pass meds. I, too, am glad that they are becoming more strict with the med aide education.

Also, in addition to the pharm training, nurses have A&P, chemistry, etc. and also learn about meds in other nursing classes and clinicals which definitely makes it safer for licensed nurses to pass meds.