Medication Aides

U.S.A. North Carolina

Published

HI. I am new. I am a nursing student scheduled to graduate in May. My state is proposing legislation soon regarding Medication Aides. I am very leary of the wording of the proposal because it states that these aides are mandatory in non-healthcare facilities such as: daycares, prisons, schools, group homes, and long term care facilities. However, it is optional for other healthcare facilities such as acute care facilities. I know programs such as this has passed in over half of the states. Does anyone have any imput? How is it working? Has there been any problems? Are med errors increasing? It really bothers me because these people have no prior medical experience and will have 24 hours of training. The RN will delegate to them. This is real scary. This program came about in our state because these med aides were already working in some of these facilities and had no formal training. From what I understand, this is suppose to help alleviate the nursing shortage for our state. I am looking for help, please. I would love your imput and any suggestions.

Specializes in Peds.
Nothing short of terrifying. Does anyone know how many states alllow Medication aides?

:uhoh3: Ohio began a "trial" a few months ago only a certain facilities. I believe it is to last a year. It's my understanding that if we're in a facility that uses these aids, that we have no choice but to let them pass our meds......and if they screw up, it's our license:angryfire :angryfire .

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Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.
:uhoh3: Ohio began a "trial" a few months ago only a certain facilities. I believe it is to last a year. It's my understanding that if we're in a facility that uses these aids, that we have no choice but to let them pass our meds......and if they screw up, it's our license:angryfire :angryfire .

We do have a choice in these circumstances, however difficult this may be. We can "vote with our feet." LEAVING an unsafe job is much better than losing one's license (and livelihood). If enough nurses boycott or refuse to work under such circumstances, then employers will be forced to relent.

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Specializes in Peds.
We do have a choice in these circumstances, however difficult this may be. We can "vote with our feet." LEAVING an unsafe job is much better than losing one's license (and livelihood). If enough nurses boycott or refuse to work under such circumstances, then employers will be forced to relent.

I would certainly be one to "vote with" my feet. First off, I won't go to work where there is a CMA trial going on. Furthermore, if Ohio does end up going with CMA's after this trial period, I'll avoid facilities utilizing them. I've only just graduated from a PN program and haven't taken my NCLEX. I also begin work on my RN this fall (beginning with a couple of non-nsg classes I need). The last thing I want is to jeopardize my license (once I do get it).

What I don't understand is how they can force these essentially untrained aides on us and threaten our licenses for their mistakes. I will eventually be an RN but will work as an LPN in the meantime. There are differences in things we (RNs and LPNs) can do and there are reasons for those differences - namely the education.

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HI BOULER GIRL

Im a Med Tech to an we are feeling the same as you first name basics with the pharmacy,writing nurses notes in charts,faxes,we even do new admissions coming in.We have 40 people on our unit we check on independent living if someone has to go to the hospital.

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My ex sil new wife is a med tech. She told my grandson that Ibuprophen was not taken for head ache pain. There was no tylenol in the house. I am sending her a print out for the uses of all of the over the counter drugs for minor pain relief. I am hoping this was ignorance, because the grandma will travel the 500 miles to kick butt if it was just meaness.

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i just posted an anwer to someone else ( i am new to this site, not sure how it works)but anyhow...i am a med aide....and i absolutely agree. I definately think it undermines a nurse. I did go to nursing school, but didnt finish. So fortunately I do have some medical background, and had pharm, and a&p. But, where i work, we had about 32 hours if that of classroom training. Basically, it teaches you to pop pills out of a card, and how to initial a MAR. Thats it. And because of staffing issues, you are lucky if they train you on the floor for more that one day (if that) We do give out all narcotics, and insulin. I absolutey think it is terrible. So much that it bothers me that i am one. I only did it because it is saving my back. Trust me, i have all the faith in the world of myself, but if i dont know something.....i wont do it. It is terrible the little amount of money i get paid to do exactly what the nurse went to school for....and it is most undermining of the nurse i am working with, that they allow me to do what she had work hard to get

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Several years ago, I worked at an MR/DD facility in the Western part of the state. I passed meds. there at 18 years old, fresh out of high school, including g-tube medications and scheduled substances. Personally, I think I did a pretty good job, but I know alot of people were pretty unqualified. If I remember correctly, it was a day or two of training, and then passing meds. under the supervision of an LPN for a day or two. Like I said, this was several years ago (I started there in '00), so I'm a bit confused as to why this is a new issue.

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over here in Pa.....we only have a 4 day class, and we do everything. pass meds, narcotics, insulin, you name it...we do all the paperwork too.....what do you think of that??? isnt it terrible.....and I am one

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i do believe that our med techs will not have to take that much pharmacology. i think they are just going to have to know the routes of administration and may not be doing im's. however, i prefer to pass my own meds and be responsible for monitoring for effectiveness and side affects. the techs will have to work under a nurse's license and i don't want them working under mine. i think it undermines the education that we have.

i don't know about north carolina, but texas requires a med aide to complete 100 hours of classroom intstruction and 40 hours of competency evaluation. one other person said they were once a med aide in texas and med aides cannot pass scheduled drugs or controlled drugs. incorrect. we cannot give parenteral medications (anything by injection) or medications such as albuterol breathing treatments or inhalers, period.

most people fail to see the benefit of the med aide. they are there so that nurse can do what she/he is trained to do: practice nursing! if the nurse is constantly passing out meds to 45 residents continuously, how is she/he able to chart, make routine/daily assesments and perform wound care, etc? the med aide is working under the license of the nurse, yes, but wouldn't it be beneficial for the nurse to develop a teaching/mentor rapport with the med aides under their direction and encourage them, if they have the ability, to become a nurse themselves?

the pharmacology learned in a med aide course is actually more than what you'd learn as an lvn/lpn. and we are taught drug conversions/calculations though, by law, we aren't allowed to do as such. speaking of education, i myself only lack about 27 hours (two semesters worth) from earning my b.s. in sociology/psychology. i'm doing the med aide to make enough money to finish those two semesters and become a teacher or whatever life may hold. i have more education, measured in classroom clocked hours, than an lpn/lvn and, shocking to some, even an adn. the science requirement alone (8 hrs) was more intensive than the a & p that the nursing students took at the college i attended (i know this because the professor taught both!)

the med aides are there as a failsafe when the nurse misses those minute details or the doctor has written a wrong order.

trust the people working under you sometime. you may be surprised!

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Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.

Please avoid disparaging comments and keep the conversation professional.

Medication Aids in NC only receive 24 hours' worth of training. The licensed nurse is ultimately accountable for any adverse events that may occur.

Nursing homes that use medication aids are NOT hiring more nurses. Actually, the reverse is true. These unlicensed personnel are being used in place of licensed nurses (deskilling at its finest) and nurses are being stretched thinner than ever. Nursing homes in our state will generally operate on as cheap a budget as allowable under the law. The residents are the ultimate losers.

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Specializes in Psych, LTC, Acute Care.

I work at a LTC and they have med aids in the building. I just got my RN and my facility wants me to stay and manage 2 med techs and 4 CNA's for 60 patients on 3-11shift. Nursing homes are using this method as a solution to the nursing shortage in LTC. The aides only go to class 2 days a week for 3 weeks and then they take a test and pass meds. They don't even have to know what the meds are. They reason why I am not doing it is because I have witnessed some of the med tech state that "I didn't give Mrs.X any pain meds because she didn't look like she was in pain". It burns me up knowing that they are on the cart making nursing judgements and I don't want to be a part of it.

If I had took the job, then I would have been responsible for all the treatments, assessments, charting, BS checks(12-15 on any given day) IM or subQ injections, Gtubes(5 of them)and anything else that comes up on 60 patients. This program works the Charge nurse to DEATH! I will never put myself in that position.

IMO the med aide program will only make things worse in the long run. I understand the logic but I do not feel that the training is adeqaute. 24 hours of training is not enough time.There needs to be more education on the meds and the disease process. and if they are going to allow them to pass meds, why not train them to do finger stick,injections and tubefeedings.

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I've only been a Certified Nurse Aide for 6 months, but fortunately, I had some education before I went into the medical field and LTC. Also, I have had Nurses who were willing to show me how to do procedures like you mentioned, i.e finger stick, allbuterol treatments, etc, which HELPED the nurse do her job and take care of the residents properly.

I emphathize with your situation. North Carolina is setting itself up for mutiple lawsuits. Those kind of issues used to be prevalent in LTC in Texas until most of the small homes in Texas were sued some years ago, resulting in an overhaul of the entire system.

Med Aides in Texas CANNOT MAKE THE DECISION whether to pass a Medication that is listed in the MAR, PERIOD! The Med Aide also cannot diagnose, determine, calculate dosages ( we are not allowed to give any thing by injection, GTube, picc lines, etc) or even pass PRN medicince listed in the MAR without the Nurses approval. The Med Aide, in Texas, is there to assist the Nurse, much as the Nurse Aide, and that is all!

North Carolina needs to get on the ball! Nurses should contact their local congressman/congresswoman and explain that the Medication Aide program is not sufficient. Also, they should not be legally making assesments about patients, etc! That is a very scary situation! You should move to Texas and Practice Nursing, Vicky! They pay RN's here anywhere from 35-55 dollars an hour! LVN's make, from what I've seen, at the LEAST, 17 bucks an hour up to 25 bucks an hour! There may be a shortage of nurses here, but they are willing to pay for them to have them instead of using less qualified staff to do the same work! *shrug*

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