Are med techs allowed to do blood sugars when there's no RN or LPN on the property?

Hello,

My question is. Are Med techs allowed to do blood sugars when there is not a licensed personal on the property?
Maybe it depends on the facility. I work in Assisted Living and the Medication Tech's which are named Health Care Coordinators are always onsite. So when the nurses go home, its up to us to make sure everyone gets their medications, including insulin shots.

When I was a PCA in a hospital, I did all of the blood sugars on all of my patients.

I suppose that the answer to this question would depend upon facility policies. However, techs perform finger stick blood sugars in hospitals across the U.S. multiple times daily.

It depends on the facility, their policy and the training and competencies of the staff. This would fall under the heading of a delegated procedure.

well then my next question will be...what are they going to do if the blood sugar is 200,300,500 or 38....???

At the LTC I work at, med techs are not able (per policy) to check blood sugars or draw up or administer insulin. If you were without a licensed nurse your director of nursing should have been notified right then. Of course the responses will vary by facility and individual policies and procedures -- my response is coming from what I know and where I work at.You can always refer to your job description for more specifics.

if they have documented competency I would think it entirely appropriate. They should not do anything requiring nursing judgment, however. This means they can do the BS then report to the nurse rather than determine on their own if the results were "high" or "low".

I think the OP might mean checking blood sugars AND administering insulin in accordance with the sliding scale..? Not just checking the sugar, but giving insulin after too, since there isn't a licensed nurse in the facility at the time at all.

In my state, med techs can obtain blood sugars per glucometer and also administer insulin. To do so they have to successfully complete a state approved course on each and it becomes part of their certification.

Quote from txspadequeenrnwell then my next question will be...what are they going to do if the blood sugar is 200,300,500 or 38....???

well, untrained people do it all the time at home and I guess an LTC is considered home in a way. I personally would expect a nurse to be present 24/7 but the med aide (appropriately trained) should be able to follow a sliding scale, especially if parameters are clear on when to call MD, etc

Quote from NickRN/EMTI can answer this based on my previous experience working in EMS. They call 911. Even if a nurse is in the facility, they call 911. LTC isn't the place for DKA/HHNS, and if their sugar is too low to drink some juice or take some oral glucose, then they need IV dextrose. So they call 911.