Medication Administration
The purpose of the Pennsylvania Medication Administration (MedAdmin) Training Program is to provide training for unlicensed staff in community settings to properly administer medications to individuals that receive services in these settings. The MedAdmin training program is a Train the Trainer model.
*Important infrastructural changes to the Medication Administration Training Program will take place from Wednesday, June 8, 2022 through Sunday, July 10, 2022, which will cause an outage.
Please refer to ODP Announcement 22-054 for further information and the MedAdmin Announcement page for updates during this period.
View all Medication Administration Courses
What is the Medication Administration Training Program?
The Medication Administration Training Program is a Train the Trainer model. Participants who successfully complete the Initial and Recertification trainings become onsite trainers who will be able to do the following in their agency or entity:
- Teach unlicensed staff to properly administer medication.
- Monitor unlicensed staff who administer medication.
- Teach Practicum Observers to assist with the monitoring of unlicensed staff who give medication.
- Monitor Practicum Observers who assist with the monitoring of unlicensed staff who give medication
Course Prerequisites
Only staff that meet all applicable requirements and are employed in one of the following licensed programs are eligible to participate in the medication administration course.
Department of Human Services
- Chapter 2380: Adult Training Facilities (ATF)
- Chapter 2390: Vocational Facilities
- Chapter 2600: Personal Care Homes (PCH)
- Chapter 2800: Assisted Living Facilities
- Chapter 3800: Child Residential and Day Treatment Facilities
- Chapter 6400: Community Homes for Individuals with Mental Retardation*
- Chapter 6600: Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded (ICF/MR)*
- Chapter 6600: Intermediate Care Facilities for Other Related Conditions (ICF/ORC)*
*Serving eight or fewer individuals
Department of Aging
Title 6 Aging, Chapter 11: Adult Day Services
Applicable requirements include:
- Employed by the agency or entity for at least 6 months
- Familiar with agency or entity policies and procedures for medication administration Completed and passed the DHS Medication Administration Course.
NOTE: Licensed staff (RN, LPN, MD, RPh., PharmD, PA, CRNP) are excluded from taking the Medication Administration course prior to attending the Train the Trainer course, but they must be familiar with the course.
Staff
Jackie Alesczyk RN is a Nursing Services Consultant for the Office of Developmental Programs in the Northeast Region. She is responsible for providing clinical consultation to county and provider program staff to improve the quality of health care to individuals. In addition, she is responsible for reviewing health-related incident management reports, investigating deaths and acts as the Regional Obra Coordinator. Ms. Alesczyk has been an instructor in the Medication Administration’s Train the Trainer course for the past 10 years. Jackie joined ODP in 1997 as a staff nurse at White Haven State Center, promoted to RN Supervisor in 2000, and accepted the Regional Nurse Position in 2002. Previously, Jackie worked in the private sector for 17 years as a staff nurse in the intensive care unit of a local hospital. Jackie earned her nursing degree at St. Luke’s Hospital, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Ann Favarella MS, RN is presently the Nursing Services Consultant for the Southeast Region Office of Developmental Programs, Department of Public Welfare. Immediately prior to joining the State five years ago, she held director positions at a community provider agency. She started out more than 40 years ago as a live-in houseparent with her family in a Philadelphia community home for six women with developmental disabilities. As the Director of Case Management Services at Hall-Mercer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital, she facilitated the move of many individuals with intellectual disabilities from Pennsylvania hospitals and institutions back to their communities. In addition, she was instrumental in the settlement of the contempt order for Philadelphia Pennhurst class members as the Director of Case Management at Philadelphia County Mental Retardation Services from 1994 to 1999. She has been a consultant for the Department of Justice regarding community and ICF/MR services in Tennessee and Connecticut. Her nursing experience includes cardiac and psychiatric nursing in acute care settings.
New Providers
A new provider is defined as either:
- A provider that has been in existence for less than six months OR
- An existing provider not currently using the Medication Administration Program that adds an eligible licensed service.
As a new provider, you may be interested in using unlicensed staff to administer medication at your new provider sites. New providers typically do not have an established medication administration program nor does their staff meet some of the requirements to become medication administration trainers. To accommodate the use of the course by new providers, there is a webcast to introduce them to medication administration.
New Provider Guidance for Medication Administration Webcast
The webcast:
- Reviews policies and practices that need to be addressed by each provider
- Will assist new providers in developing their provider medication administration program
- Must be viewed by the provider
Provider administration must view the webcast in addition to the trainer candidate. The webcast includes information about registration procedures for new provider trainer candidates.