3 Questions - Click if you want!

[ThomasBonifacio]

Hi All,

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and had lots of good food Just here to get some input again from a few of you.

I start school at a community college here in Nevada in early 2015 for my Nurse Assistant Certification. I turn 18 in February of 2015 but just have a few questions...I know that some states use Medication Aides in acute care and long term care and want to know if having the ability to pass medications makes a difference in salary. Are Medication Aides able to push IV Drugs and or start/remove IV's with IV Certification? From what I understand, working as a Medication Aide, is essentially doing the Nursing Assistant work but just having the ability to pass medication, am I correct?

I have thought for awhile about this and I just don't see myself spending four years in school to become an R.N. I'm on the fence about becoming an L.V.N. because from what I've heard, it seems like a lot of new grad L.V.N.'s are having problems finding employment in acute care which is where I want to be working.

I know that being a Nurse Assistant is very physically and emotionally taxing and I'm most certainly aware that I will never be wealthy with the salary that Nurse Assistants make...However, becoming wealthy was never my goal...My goal is to be the best direct care worker I can possibly be and I'd like to know what type of certifications I can obtain and use only being a C.N.A.

I guess the R.N. or L.V.N. route is just not for everyone!

Thank you for any programs you guys can recommend me to...AllNurses and all of the people here have really helped me make an informed decision on my career and I think I'm going to be happy with being a direct care worker! :)

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Thread moved to CNA/MA forum for better response.

[Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN]

I've never heard of medication aides giving IV meds ...in some places, like California, even LVNs can't give IV meds.

[Loo17]

Where I live medication aids only are allowed to pour pre-prepared meds into a cup and hand them to residents in places that do not have nurse coverage 24 hours a day. Like at an independent living center where the residents are able to care for themselves and just need minimal assistance. A med tech would never give IV medications. I believe the med techs make between $8-10 an hour. It is a separate job than a CNA ( in my experience) a med tech would not work in a facility that employs nurses fulltime.

There are other jobs available with a CNA certification, a PCT often starts with a CNA cert and sometimes needs EKG cert or phlebotomy cert.

Money is not everything however it is nice to be compensated well for your hard work. There are many areas an RN works that the RN is the one doing the "CNA" work. Some ICU's the nurse does all patient care for example. Just food for thought!

I went to school part time for a year of pre-req's and 2 years in an ADN program. I work in a busy Emergency Department.

[caliotter3]

Don't shut the door on becoming an LPN. Cross that bridge when you get to it. It is nice to know that there are options in front of you.

[Missingyou, CNA]

I agree! Don't shut the door on becoming an LPN.

In my area, a CNA can pass medications in an assisted living facility and other types of facilities where there isn't a nurse. required.

They CANNOT do anything "invasive" such as I.V or connect feeding tubes, but those types of patients will not be in that facility anyway.

Where I worked the med certified CNA took additional classes that equaled to 21 hours of classroom time and the facility provided that training. They were paid an additional .50 cents per hour and they had to pass meds along with their other tasks of caring for residents, tho they had fewer resident's to care for. They were also responsible for contacting a nurse or an emergency service if the need came up.

There is no such thing as a med certified CNA in nursing home facility as CNA's can not pass meds, they cannot even apply medicated powders/creams.

[ThomasBonifacio]

Thanks so much for all of the detailed responses everyone! I'm checking into Patient Care Technician courses and that looks like something I would be interested in doing for a few years. Maybe I need to put in more thought about the LVN/RN schooling...