It may be that “medication management” needs to be listed as a service that the care agency is being hired to do. Then agency would need to have only caregivers certified as per state laws as to RX distribution.
If opioids (esp Fentanyl lollipops) or other back box drugs are happening, agency may need to extra paperwork done by the client.
It depends on the laws of your state and the policy of your care agency. Most states require that only family members or certified med techs can perform this task.
I’m in Oregon- I don’t know if the laws and regulations in this matter vary from state to state.
I used two professional caregiver agencies over the six year period I looked after my parents. Both allowed the giving of prescription medicines if the caregiver was a licensed CNA and had also received special certification in this area. I’m not sure if the certification came from the state or their own in-house training. This level of caregiver verses a non CNA came at a higher hourly rate.
The non CNAs could remind my parents to take their medication- which I separated into one of those Day of the Week medication containers every week. But technically they were not allowed to touch the medication - not even to the point of opening the little daily box and handing it to my parent.
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If opioids (esp Fentanyl lollipops) or other back box drugs are happening, agency may need to extra paperwork done by the client.
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I used two professional caregiver agencies over the six year period I looked after my parents. Both allowed the giving of prescription medicines if the caregiver was a licensed CNA and had also received special certification in this area. I’m not sure if the certification came from the state or their own in-house training. This level of caregiver verses a non CNA came at a higher hourly rate.
The non CNAs could remind my parents to take their medication- which I separated into one of those Day of the Week medication containers every week. But technically they were not allowed to touch the medication - not even to the point of opening the little daily box and handing it to my parent.