STATE NEWS

Senate signs off on 'medication aides'

The Florida Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill that would allow trained certified nursing assistants to provide medications to nursing-home residents.

  • By News Service of Florida
  • | 12:05 p.m. April 7, 2023
Prescription Medication Medicine Pill Tablets
Prescription Medication Medicine Pill Tablets
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  • Ormond Beach Observer
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The Florida Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill that would allow trained certified nursing assistants to provide medications to nursing-home residents. 

The bill (SB 558), sponsored by Health Policy Chairwoman Colleen Burton, R-Lakeland, would allow certified nursing assistants to become trained as “qualified medication aides.”

They could then administer what Burton and other supporters have described as “routine” medications to nursing-home residents, freeing up registered nurses to provide other needed care. 

Also, qualified medication aides could perform tasks such as checking residents’ blood glucose levels. 

A House version of the bill (HB 351) has cleared committees and is positioned to go to the full House.

 

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