This is probably going to open a can of worms.............but how do you all feel about replacing nurses in the office setting with Medical Assistants? How (if at all) do you feel it affects patient care?
Do any of the MA's in your offices refer to themselves as "nurses"? Have you had any problems with the knowledge base of the MA's? How are they with patient education?
May be just my situation, but I have run across some significant problems in this area................and not sure how to address it...........or even if I can address it.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I don't believe any such thing exists. Why would any one get an AD in MA when they can get an AD as an RN? It would be wholly irresponsible for an MA to do ANYTHING that an MD asks of him/her if it's not something they are not allowed to do by law. If an MD asked you to hang a unit of blood you're saying it's OK to do that? Because it's not.
I didn't believe it existed either because it doesn't make any sense, but it does.
An AD program for medical assistants does not exist? K. A medical assistant would not be asked to hang a unit of blood because they work in clinics and blood administration is not usually a clinic task. I do have a friend that's a medical assistant in a surgery clinic that pushes sedation meds. Yes, I'm telling you the complete truth: medical assistants are delegated and work under the provider's license. Medical assistants have a huge, broad scope depending on where they work. I know many people that chose to get their associate's degree in medical assisting because they did not want to be a nurse. In addition to the high competition therefore no guarantee of starting an AD program for RN.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
An AD program for medical assistants does not exist? K. A medical assistant would not be asked to hang a unit of blood because they work in clinics and blood administration is not usually a clinic task. I do have a friend that's a medical assistant in a surgery clinic that pushes sedation meds. Yes, I'm telling you the complete truth: medical assistants are delegated and work under the provider's license. Medical assistants have a huge, broad scope depending on where they work. I know many people that chose to get their associate's degree in medical assisting because they did not want to be a nurse. In addition to the high competition therefore no guarantee of starting an AD program for RN.
Not true. No one ever works under anyone's license.
That's a private for-profit school that I wasn't even considering, aside from the fact that I don't live in any of those states. Every community college that I know of offers an AD medical assistant program.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
That's a private for-profit school that I wasn't even considering, aside from the fact that I don't live in any of those states. Every community college that I know of offers an AD medical assistant program.
"I'm curious, why would you spend the time and money getting an Associate's degree in medical assisting, when you could get an Associate's degree in nursing and make 2-3x the salary?"
I don't know, you'll have to ask someone that got their AD in medical assisting then got their AD in nursing. In my state, nurses make about 1.5 times the salary of a medical assistant, not 2-3 times.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
"I'm curious, why would you spend the time and money getting an Associate's degree in medical assisting, when you could get an Associate's degree in nursing and make 2-3x the salary?"
I don't know, you'll have to ask someone that got their AD in medical assisting then got their AD in nursing. In my state, nurses make about 1.5 times the salary of a medical assistant, not 2-3 times.
Okay, then I'll rephrase:
Why an associate's degree in MA when you can get one in nursing for the same amount of time and make twice as much?
Curious, where do you live, that RNs only make 1.5x that of an MA? Where I live, MAs make around $13-16/hour, and RNs make $27-32. RNs also top out at higher salaries, and much greater areas for advancement.
Those are online for-profit schools!!! There are the same types of programs for nursing which is just an option to a local community college (or university for BSN)!! Not everyone pays that much to be a medical assistant!!!!!! That's like only providing examples for nursing degrees like Western Governors University online or whatever they are!
OrganizedChaos, LVN
1 Article; 6,883 Posts
I didn't believe it existed either because it doesn't make any sense, but it does.
Medical Assistant Degree Programs & Courses: Associate of Applied Science Degree in Medical Assisting Online | Kaplan University
That's only available in Iowa, Nebraska, Maine & Maryland. Plus, check out the cost!