monalisa67

I reside in Michigan, not Missouri! I stated in the previous post that errors are made by licensed and unlicensed alike. Do you argue that fact? I've worked in this field long enough to know that these errors can be/are made by Aides, but Nurses and Physicians can be/are also guilty of med errors, I've seen it happen. We read about these and other acts of negligence in our daily newspaper (or find articles on the net) so, whether it's the high patient/nurse ratio and/or being overworked and/or being stressed and/or the caregiver (licensed, or not) is just a complete moron... Whatever the case, the point I was trying to make was that not ALL unlicensed caregivers are incompetent as many of you assume. I've met quite a few "educated idiots" and have also worked with a few! Personally, I feel that being an Aide for many years helped me become the fantastic nurse I am today. I've never forgotten my roots, I treat everyone fairly and as a nurse am grateful for the COMPETENT Aides who usually tend to do the dirty work... literally! I could sit here and continue to try and convince you that there is such a thing as a competent, unlicensed caregiver, but I truly feel that it would be like beating a dead horse, so... I'm finished with this topic! Thanks to all the competent Aides out there, keep up the great work, but if you're out of work... you could always try Missouri! QUOTE=Mschrisco]From the Missouri State Auditor: "Our review of these incident reports showed a substantial number of medication errors, including 903 medication errors over 18 months at one facility. Such errors included failing to dispense medications or dispensing them late. Since we could only track medication errors through incident or injury reports, it is unknown how understated or widespread the error really is." http://www.auditor.state.mo.us/press/2001-20.htm This facility utilized CMTs (Certified Med Techs). Their direct supervisors were not nurses, they were Qualified Mental Retardation Professionals--degreed in human services. This is how most Residential Care Facilites are staffed (if they are contracted by the state). State facilities only utilize nurses (go figure) Also... most of the residents were epileptics. Severe development disabilities, including heart abnormalities, behavior disorders, chronic pain, physical deformities, many physical compromises, you name it, they had it. But medications were late, or non-existent.

I'm not familiar with Massachusetts, R.L., but in the state of Michigan where I reside a Resident Aide/Nurse Aide is allowed to pass meds in certain facilities and some foster care homes. I know this personally because I worked as a Resident Aide for a number of years before (and while) I attended nursing school. I worked with the BI population and passing meds (including narcs) and giving insulin injections was just one of my numerous responsiblities. I must admit that I was a bit offended by some of the remarks made here. Although I know first hand that there are some people (licensed included) that should not be working in health care, not all Aides are incompetent. Personally, I was extremely careful when passing meds and had ONE med error in my 6 years of Aide work, which could've happened to anyone! (licensed included) My advice would be to hire someone who has experience passing meds, be it a Resident Aide, Nurse Aide, Medical Assistant, or Nurse. Oh, and by the way... for the person who made the "Bladder Irrigation" remark. I also worked as a private duty aide for a Quad with a suprapubic cath. I irrigated his bladder qd, along with his meds, bowel program & various other duties. He remained in good health. Good luck to your friend, R.L.! :) MonaLisa