"Omg. I just got my CNA license, and I'm giving narcs."

[Guttercat, ASN, RN]

...said a friend of mine in a recent email. She's never even been in direct patient care.

She was just hired into a large LTC/Rehab/Sub-Acute facility.

Perhaps I'm beating a dead horse, but I post these threads, because "all" nurses and or aspiring nurses need to be aware (and constantly reminded) of what is going on politically and the fiscal drivers behind the changes.

I'm not saying a CNA (or a plumber or a sous chef or a janitor or a jet propulsion engineer) can't be "trained" to dispense medications.

I just want all of us to realize and stay cognizant of what is going on under our noses. What we do with the information is up to us. Throw our hands up and hope we still have a job next year? Be "thankful we still have a job" as our salaries decline or remain stagnant?

Supply-demand, supply-demand....The demand side goes down with the nursing glut (supply), and former nurse responsibilities are farmed out to UAP's. It's like a double whammy.

It's not all doom and gloom, but the times they are a' changin'.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

When I worked in assisted living, the med techs weren't necessarily LNAs.

[RNforLongTime]

Before I became and RN or even a CNA, I worked in an assisted living facility and was giving meds and insulin all the time to the residents.

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-24/u-s-recommends-tighter-control-on-hydrocodone-pain-pills.html

Where I work we rely heavily on med aides and yes they administer Vicodin. With this new reg I was told they won't be able to...

[sharpeimom]

Frankly, the thought of a LNA or a CNA giving any meds when she's working under my license scares the holy heck out of me. I don't have enough fine motor control in my hands now to take pills from the bottles without dropping some, so my husband puts them in daily pill containers and as careful as he is, I check every cubby before I take every dose, I check every single pill. He's never made a mistake, but the possibility always lurks just around the corner, just as it does with every dose given by an RN, LPN, or unlicensed person -- be it a spouse or a non-nurse allied health person.

Non-licensed persons know which pill is ordered but not about side effects, which pills and capsules can be cut in half and which can be safely crushed. While my husband was in rehab following foot and ankle surgery three years ago, his elderly roommate who had dementia, was given what amounted to a triple dose of Buspar for four days before his daughter visited and caught it. EEK!

My husband said the roommate was acting stranger than usual but no one listened to him or checked. Those doses were given by RNs and LPNs who knew about the 5 rights, but an aide could easily have made the same error and never have realized that a 3 pill dose each time was just too many pills to be a correct dose.

No one is perfect. We are all mere mortals. We make mistakes. I don't want the nurse who says she has never made a mistake to give me so much as a Tylenol because she's not an safe nurse. I'll take full responsibility for any and all meds mistakes I make but nt for an unlicensed employee who has had a few hours of meds training. No way! No how!

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

Argh. I hate it when CNAs talk about their "CNA license". There is no such thing as a CNA license.

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

Argh. I hate it when CNAs talk about their "CNA license". There is no such thing as a CNA license.

how so?

[squidbillies]

Because they're "state registered," not "licensed" I think?

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

how so?

It's not a license. It's a certification. There's a bigger difference than one might think.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

The Legal Differences Between Certification and Licensure

Although the general public continues to use the terms interchangeably, there are important functional distinctions between the two concepts.

The federal government has defined “certification” as the process by which a non-governmental organization grants recognition to an individual who has met predetermined qualifications specified by that organization.¹ Similarly, the National Commission for Certifying Agencies has recently defined certification as “a process, often voluntary, by which individuals who have demonstrated the level of knowledge and skill required in the profession, occupation, role, or skill are identified to the public and other stakeholders.”²

Accordingly, there are three hallmarks of certification (as functionally defined).

Certification is:

1. voluntary process;
   
   
2. by a private organization;
   
   
3. for the purpose of providing the public information on those individuals who have successfully completed the certification process (usually entailing successful completion of educational and testing requirements) and demonstrated their ability to perform their profession competently.
   

Nearly every profession certifies its members in some way, but a prime example is medicine. Private certifying boards certify physician specialists. Although certification may assist a physician in obtaining hospital privileges, or participating as a preferred provider within a health insurer’s network, it does not affect his legal authority to practice medicine. For instance, a surgeon can practice medicine in any state in which he is licensed regardless of whether or not he is certified by the American Board of Surgery.

Licensure, on the other hand, is the state’s grant of legal authority, pursuant to the state’s police powers, to practice a profession within a designated scope of practice. Under the licensure system, states define, by statute, the tasks and function or scope of practice of a profession and provide that these tasks may be legally performed only by those who are licensed. As such, licensure prohibits anyone from practicing the profession who is not licensed, regardless of whether or not the individual has been certified by a private organization.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

Argh. I hate it when CNAs talk about their "CNA license". There is no such thing as a CNA license.

My state licenses nursing assistants; they're called LNAs.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I don't know about CO, but I know that the Arizona BON also licenses CNAs. They get a number and a card and everything.