For many medical assistants, a career switch to the nursing profession seems like a great idea due to the overlap in procedural skills. In reality, it truly is a great idea! However, MAs who are considering becoming nurses must realize a few things before taking the plunge.
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Numerous medical assistants thoroughly enjoy their jobs as workers in the allied healthcare field and couldn't imagine doing anything else. Other MAs feel trapped inside a circular vortex where rude doctors, routine tasks, rigid hours and low pay trigger their desire for another career that still involves patient care, procedural skills, and interaction in a healthcare setting.
For many MAs, a career switch to nursing seems like a great idea. In reality, it is a great idea! However, MAs who are thinking about becoming nurses would be wise to realize a few things.
So, are there any good MA-to-LPN or MA-to-RN bridge programs you can recommend?
Sorry, but MA-to-LPN bridge programs do not exist. Neither do MA-to-RN completion programs. If one reads this and knows about one of these programs, feel free to share the name and location.
Why don't MA-to-LPN or MA-to-RN programs exist? It's a logical progression!
The progression doesn't seem all that logical to me. This opinion is coming from a person who completed an MA program in 2000, an LPN/LVN program in 2005, and an LPN-to-RN associate of science degree bridge program in 2010. Medical assisting is a part of the medical model of care provision, whereas nursing has its own distinct nursing model of care. And even though many medical assisting procedural skills overlap with multiple nursing tasks, the two career fields are not as similar as they might seem to the naked eye. Since the LPN and RN roles both fall under the same nursing model, LPN-to-RN bridge programs are offered at countless schools.
Can I challenge the boards to become an LPN or RN if I have years of MA experience?
No board of nursing in any state in the union will allow applicants to challenge the board to attain licensure as a registered nurse. However, California will allow applicants with the right mix of experience to challenge the boards to obtain licensure as an LVN (licensed vocational nurse). According to the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians (2011), qualifying for the licensure examination based on prior education and experience, often referred to as "the equivalency method," requires the applicant to provide documentation of a minimum of 51 months of paid general duty inpatient bedside nursing experience in a clinical facility and completion of a 54-theory-hour pharmacology course.
Do I still need to attend a nursing program if I am a medical assistant?
The admissions advisers of most nursing programs do not grant any time off for possessing many years of experience as an MA. In most cases you will still need to pass the same prerequisite courses as other applicants, attain acceptable scores on the same entrance exams that others must take, get accepted like everyone else, and enroll in the same nursing courses. If you completed your MA program at a regionally accredited community college, some credits might transfer to your nursing program. However, your credits probably will not transfer if you graduated from an investor-owned trade school that lacks regional accreditation. In other words, your medical assistant training and work experience is valuable, but not likely to cut much time off your ultimate goal of becoming a licensed nurse.
