Medication Aide
To be a medication aide in a licensed Texas facility, you must :
- Read, write, speak, and understand English
- Be at least 18 years old
- Be free of communicable diseases, and in suitable physical and emotional health to safely administer medications
- Work in a facility as a certified nurse aide or unlicensed direct care staff person on the first official day of your medication aide training program
- Have been employed in a facility for 90 days as an unlicensed direct care staff person
- Applicants who attended school out of country must have their documentation verified as being equivalent to high school graduation in the United States.
- This does not include home health agencies, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities (SNF) in hospitals, staffing agencies, city-county jails or adult day care.
Many assisted living facilities and long-term care facilities now employ Certified Medication Aides to help the nurses to issue routine non-injectable medication.
This allows the nurses to spend more time planning and coordinating patient care.
Once you are trained and you pass the competency test, you become certified. Your duties as a CMA will be to prepare and administer routine medications to patients; stock and manage the drug inventory to ensure adequate supplies; and document the administration and effectiveness of medications, taking note of any adverse side effects.
If you are interested in being a certified medication aide, you can join our 4-week program where you will learn:
- Medication names, actions, interactions, and side effects.
- Safe medication management and administration.
- Legal, regulatory, and ethical considerations.
- Documentation and communication with the healthcare team.