Nursing Issue - Medication Aides

Nurses Safety

Published

Hi. I am new to the post. Very shortly a bill will be presented to our legislation on Medication Aides for my state. I am looking for some feedback regarding these aides. I know other programs have been implemented in many other states. How is it working? What are the current problems? Where can I go to find out more information?

In my state they will be mandatory in non-health focused care settings such as: schools, prison, assisted living, daycares, and group homes. The health focused areas are: long term care facilities, rehab centers, home health, hospice, public health depts., clinics, and acute care settings. However, some say it optional for health care facilities. The training is 24 hours. I feel this is very dangerous. It is being implemented to help alleviate some of the nursing shortage we will experience in the near future. Plus, a lot of these med aides already work in some of these facilities and there has never been any formal training. How they were hired is beyond me, but now there is a need to train these individuals. The only requirement to date is: 21 years old and a high school graduate. No prior medical experience. Scary!!!

I am looking for information on how programs of this type are working in other areas? Any problems experienced with the program? Is there an increase in med errors? Where I can go to gather more information?

I tell you Tiffany I have been a med. Aide .for 8 Yrs. hubby Alvn Niece Rn cousin RN What they call you when working is your statis at that time if a problem it's your facility . As long as you carry out a Nurses duty and do it percise you have no worry it' the company that made a fault. I know with Nurses in my in family you do whats assigned what they title you as ? sounds like you need to be in tx. get paid for what you do. respects Med. Aide

tiffany,

if they are calling you a charge nurse, that is illegal.

if you are charting in nurse's notes but signing your name w/cmt beside it, that is legal. obviously all staff there chart in the same book.

if a pt requires a restraint, it is the nurse's initials that should be charting, not yours. it is the nurse that should be writing the nurse's note on why the pt was restrained, if md was aware, how pt was tolerating, skin checks, etc. THAT is one area that you should not be charting on.

you should refer to your policies and procedures manual to peruse the scope of a cmt's duties and make a copy of it.

this facility sounds very shady and i'm just trying to protect you from any sort of liability.

if the p&p manual doesn't have a job description, then request to have one made up.

if you have any questions, there should be on the wall, the number of the facility's ombudsmen. you can call them (confidentially/anonymously) and explain that you're a cmt and this is what they have you doing; and is it legal. at least you'll get some input as they will definitely be able to answer any questions you have.

best of luck to you sweetie.

leslie

you know if you have to come home and cry about your education(why) phar. is not hard i used my instincts as a med. Aide and look meds. up in a Pdr at least the most common given but reading is the best policy in Nursing. Even down the road read anything you can find or learn about comming out or past good luck

I try not to let things upset me very much, but, when I think about the months of studying that I did in pharmacology and the oh so many days that I came home from class and cried because I just knew I would never learn everything I needed to know to give meds, and then, I read something like this. 24 hours training!!!!! I just get down right mad. Sorry for the rant, but it just sounds down right dangerous to me. Most of us still keep a drug book handy because with sicker pt. and newer meds there is always something to learn. Or is it that people in "non-healthcare facilities don't deserve the same quality of care". If I had a child in school that was on medication, I would want someone overseeing that child that had more than 24 hr. "training".

HI PAULA i AM from Tx I spent many hours in class and out. I think iodd a Nurse asks me about an order. MY hubby being an LVN ? RN as I do You can do a med class in 4 mths. but yo learn alot but what the nurse does't know we have to dril ourselfs to be comfotable. Thats why many LVN's and AdON's wil rspect you. Read an PDR most Nurses can't answer you unless the DR. fax's or they actually know good luck

In Colorado, we have been fighting the proposal of medications aides in longterm care for 4 years. We have testified several times at committee hearings. Nurses everywhere are very concerned about this - due to vulnerability of nursing home patients, fragile medical condition, and complexity of medication administration. But legislators seem to see it as a nice fix. We are encouraging nursing homes to spend any monies on helping their good nurse aides go to school to get LPN - a value to themselves, to NH and to the community.

There are no studies that we can find - period. Whether it is safe or not. And states that do allow med aides have different requirements, so it is hard to compare. this year, at least the proponents have suggested a pretty significant training - a semester of LPN school. We'll see.

This is one issue that ALL nurses are very concerned about - consistently. It is NOT a defending the turf issue - it is real nursing concern.

Specializes in ICU.

Administration of medications is easy - anyone can do it - after all home carer's do it - BUT where a nurse is needed and required is the evaluation of the effect of the medication.

Giving a fit healthy person a pill is not a problem but what pills are safe crushed for the NG route? How do you evaluate the order to ensure that the timing of the medication is correct?

Are you trained to recognise adverse reactions? Withdrawal symptom? Desired effects?

Unless you have extensive training you are unable to complete this side of medication administration.

Specializes in Critical Care/ICU.

:banghead:

Oh well.

This thread has been a real eye-opener.

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.
you know if you have to come home and cry about your education(why) phar. is not hard i used my instincts as a med. Aide and look meds. up in a Pdr at least the most common given but reading is the best policy in Nursing. Even down the road read anything you can find or learn about comming out or past good luck

Pharmacology is NOT an easy course. If someone thinks it is, then I have to doubt that it was really Pharmacology that was taught.

In no way is ANYONE entitled to use, imply or otherwise use the title/term NURSE/RN/LPN unless it has been earned. To do otherwise is fraud. If the Facility receives even a dime of federal money from Medicare, well that's Medicare FRAUD and the government doesn't take that lightly at all.

I have been an RN for 31 years now and I still have concerns about even giving a PRN to someone's patient while that NURSE is at lunch.

I wasn't going to reply but after reading several of these posts I just have to. Having medication aides can be bittersweet. I started as a CNA then got my OMT which in Iowa stands for oral medication technician and am now an LPN. I have worked in several different facilties as an OMT and my duties have varied slightly in each one. Basically in Iowa med techs can give oral meds but must have PRN medications and narcotics co-signed by a nurse. We could apply topical ointments and do treatments if there is no open wound. We could do nebulizer treatments and give supps. and enemas. We could not do injections but we could do blood sugar checks if we had been trained and had that training on file. We could not do G-tube meds. Any charting we did had to be co-signed by a nurse. We could not take doctor orders or write telephone orders and we could not do anytype of assessments. The most recent place I worked as an LPN on 2nd shift I would charge the back half of the facitlity and the OMT would charge the front. Although in actuality I was really charge of the building. I would come up to the front and do the insulins the tube feeders the assessments and not the orders. The OMT's I worked with her were very good, but I have also worked with some who were not that good . I stand up for med techs because I was one and I know I was very good at my job, but at the same time I do worry at times because me liscense is on the line if they make a mistake.

i have no f ill advice this sit i b/s

Specializes in NICN.
i have no f ill advice this sit i b/s

Huh??:confused:

host contcact giving warnings

Specializes in Cardiac.
Huh??:confused:

Exactly. I find it humerous that txmustang is criticizing nurses, but her posts are so confusing and unreadable that I really have no idea what she is saying. :uhoh3:

Are you saying you can draw blood also? Please clarify b/c if you do then that is illegal.

yes i draw blood but NO It's not illegal i am phlebotomy certified seperate class nothing to do with being a med tech

+ Add a Comment