The Qualified Medication Aide (QMA) Certificate (CT) teaches students how to safely:

• Dispense and administer medications in a long-term care setting
• Care for skin
• Administer insulin

Students also learn how to monitor patients for side effects related to medications.

After completing this CT, students are eligible to take the Indiana State Department of Health competency evaluation test for QMAs for nursing assistants.

This program prepares students to provide routine care and assistance to patients under the direct supervision of other health care professionals and to perform routine maintenance and general assistance in health care facilities and laboratories. This course meets the minimum standards set forth by the ISDH for Qualified Medication Aide (QMA) training and provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to administer approved medications in long term care settings. Classroom instruction is provided, followed by clinical training that is supervised one-on-one by a licensed nurse. The most common medications in current use are discussed according to body systems, with emphasis on classification, uses, routes of administration, dosages, interactions incompatibilities, and side effects.

Also addressed are communication, standard precautions, safety, residents’ rights, documentation, scope of practice of the QMA, legal aspects and patient education. Individuals who successfully complete this course are eligible to apply for the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) competency evaluation test for Qualified Medication Aides.

INDIANA STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH COURSE COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS:

1. During the supervised practicum, students are required to demonstrate competency via return demonstration in the presence of the practicum supervisor, who, in turn, shall complete a state approved practicum checklist. Each checklist shall be completed with one hundred percent (100%) accuracy. A student shall have the opportunity to repeat said checklists until one hundred percent (100%) accuracy is obtained.
2. The practicum must begin within three (3) months after completion of the classroom training.
3. Take the QMA competency evaluation test, consisting of multiple-choice questions, and achieve a passing score of eighty percent (80%) by the state-approved testing entity. The application for competency exam shall be submitted within thirty (30) days of practicum completion.
4. The competency evaluation test may be taken three (3) times within one (1) year of the completion date of classroom training. Prior to the student applying to take the second or third test, the student shall provide documentation to the testing entity of additional training that is based on the QMA training program and conducted by a registered nurse. However, if the student is unsuccessful after three (3) attempts, he or she shall repeat the training program in its entirety. Testing will be administered and scored by an entity approved by the Indiana state department of health.
5. The student must complete the forty (40) hour practicum and apply to take the competency evaluation test within six (6) months of the completion date of the sixty (60) hour classroom portion of the program. Applications to take the second or third test must be submitted, along with documentation of additional training, within one (1) year of the completion date of the classroom training.
6. The student must complete at least 4 didactic hours of ISDH approved QMA-Insulin Administration Module.