General Instructions - Medication Technician Clinical Update

The regulations require that the medication technician complete a Clinical Update every two years. The Clinical Update must be completed prior to renewal of the medication technician certificate. The medication technician certificate expires on the birth month of the individual and the renewal is based on birth year. An individual who is born in an even year would renew his/her certificate in an even year e.g. born in a year ending with an even number such as 0, 2, 4, 6, 8. An individual born in year ending in an odd number 1, 3, 5, 7, or  9 would renew in an odd year. The clinical update must be completed within 90 days prior to the medication technician certificate expiring on his/her birth month. If the individual does not complete the Clinical Update prior to the expiration of the medication technician certificate or if the individual fails the Clinical Update the individual must complete the entire twenty (20) hour training program.

The medication technician clinical update may only be taught by a registered nurse case manager/delegating nurse who has completed the required 16 hour case manager/delegating nurse training program at a Board approved educational site. The Clinical Update has two components - The Medication Technician must successfully complete both components of the Update prior to renewing the medication technician certificate. 

Component I (Classroom):

A) The RN, case manager/delegating nurse utilizes the following four steps in administering the Clinical Update. Step one involves reviewing with the medication technician what experiences the medication technician has had to date e.g.

•  What are the areas/issues that are reviewed with you each time the RN, CM/DN does a 45 day visit?
• What challenges are you experiencing while administering medication?
• Are there areas where you find you’re having difficulty e.g. charting etc?”

B) Step two involves the RN, CM/DN reviewing the material to be covered in the Clinical Update feedback exercises.

C) Step three involves the RN, CM/DN administering the required Clinical Update feedback exercises.

D) The feedback exercises must be administered to the individual student; and, must be observed and proctored by the RN, case manager/delegating nurse who is physically present at the testing site. The feedback exercises are not open book, and are not a take home examination. The feedback exercise may not be completed as a group activity.

E) Step four involves the RN, CMDN reviewing with the medication technician the responses to his/her feedback exercises and the RN, CM/DN remediating the medication assistant as indicated .

F) The classroom portion of the clinical update shall be a minimum of four (4) clock hours. Additional time may be required if five (5) or more students. Classroom size shall be limited to 15 students per one instructor. 

Component II (Clinical):

The second component consists of the medication technician’s ability to demonstrate the medication administration process with a client in the clinical setting with 100% accuracy. This process includes:

A) Demonstration of medication administration in the practice setting with an actual resident. 

B) Demonstration of hand washing which is the first step and continuing through all sequential steps until the last step of the medication administration process which is documentation. 

C) Utilizing a competency based evaluation tool in evaluating the medication technician’s ability to perform this medication administration process.

Procedure for Submitting Update Information

1. Information regarding completion of the update must be submitted through the Board’s web page at www.mbon.org. Once at the home page click on “Online License Renewal”. The prompts shall direct the user on the steps to follow. Please note the Board will not accept Clinical Updates by mail. The Board will not accept Clinical Updates submitted on-line by more than ninety days prior to expiration of the medication technician certificate or those submitted after the expiration of the 30-day grace period.
2. Facilities which have large number of updates may submit their Medication Assistant Clinical Update information in a format compatible with Microsoft Excel. Detailed instructions for this process will be provided on the Board’s web site.
3. Submission of information by the registered nurse requires the registered nurse’s name, and license number; and, the medication technician’s name and certification number.
4. Only registered nurses who have completed the Board approved registered nurse, case manager/delegating training program may teach the clinical update.

Medication Technician Renewal Process

The individual medication technician will also complete a paper renewal application with the Board. The Board’s computer system will match the on-line renewal information to the individual applicant’s paper renewal form. Both the paper renewal form and the Clinical Update submitted on line must be completed prior to the medication technician certificate being renewed.