Who do you think you are!

[mesa1979]

I work as a prn nurse for a rehab facility......I have this Med Aid who first of all does not listen to anyone, because she has "been a med aid for 10 years"........I was given an ear full by another nurse who stated this girl had changed a prn order to a routine order all on her own, and this nurse DID NOT report her! I knew the next week I was going to be working with her, So, when the Dr comes in on Monday, she bee lines to the doc and says this pt med needs to be changed because she has IBS (first of all you cant diagnose a pt) and I dont think she needs the Lomotil.....I make my way to the Doc and tell him to give me a min to talk to this chick.....I told her, she is not to go to the doc and ask for chages she is to go to her nurse if there is a potential problem.....

She stated to me that she can go to the doc if she wanted to and that she had the right to refuse this pt her med for diarrhea bc she didn't think she needed it!!!!OMG:eek:.....I went to take a look at the MAR to see what she had not been giving and on what pt....and when I grabbed the MAR, she told me to move if I wanted her to pass meds; I told her to step back these are MY PATIENTS! :angryfireShe had been denying her the med for the last 6 days and I am the only nurse that caught it or that said something! I wrote her butt up real quick and told her that she will not make changes to the MAR at all and she will give all meds as ordered!!!! I kept a copy to cover my butt....She got a good dose of a reality check with me!

[mesa1979, BSN, RN]

Med aide is such a STRANGE concept to me. I get all territorial and panicky just thinking of someone else pouring and passing my patients their meds. What type of training do these aides have? Do they know how to do the proper assessments and understand the pharmacology behind just giving pills? I personally feel an aide would be better utilized within a PSW role (toileting, turning, ADLs, transfers, boosts). Sounds dangerous overall to have too many cooks in the kitchen and I would refuse to work within that care model.

Not all states use med aids of course, but the states that allow med aids have training programs in place:up:. I think here in OK the length of the program is 9 months and they have to pass some kind of testing requirements before they work......I'm glad we have them, but they need to lear to stay within their scope of practice.......

[caliotter3]

Your post is another argument for why nonlicensed personnel should not be passing meds.

[Larry77, RN]

I have received report on patients being sent to the ED from these "med-aides"...wth? One time I asked for the LN she said, "Oh, she isn't here today..." So is this med-aide calling the doc to have the patient sent to the ED? Supposedly this was an assisted-living facility so it was ok...sounds fishy to me.

[HeartsOpenWide, RN]

I wrote her butt up real quick and told her that she will not make changes to the MAR at all and she will give all meds as ordered!!!! I kept a copy to cover my butt....She got a good dose of a reality check with me!

This is what I do not understand about the Med Aid...they do not have any critical thinking skills or training to know if they need to hold a med. I understand that there are a lot of patients to see and a LOT of meds to pass in nursing homes, but I do not understand how these people are even legal; I don't think CA has them. At least hire a single LVN with pharm training, critical thinking skills, and a license to pass all meds for Petes sake

I could never work in a nursing home with Med aids and not constantly stress about what some lay person is doing on MY license. In the SNF that I did a rotation at school for, they had one LVN pass all the meds for the entire facility,and it pretty much was his full time job; not some med aid without a license. Even that is a little scary since holding a med often is decided after the nurses assessment.