Originally Posted by BSNMan
Hello,
I am very interested in the aspect of massage in providing the best care for my future patients. I am wondering were you all ready using massage in your nursing role before you became massage therapists? how does it differ: nurses giving massage vs nurses who become certified massage therapists?
I am trying to decide if all that extra school is necessary/ worth it; if i want to be a
nurse who uses massage and
not start practicing as a massage therapist.
I would appreciate your insight in the differences between RN vs RN-CMT
Thank you
John
Hi John.
I was a massage therapist before I went to nursing school. Unfortunately, there aren't many opportunities to utilize a FULL massage school education in a hospital setting for someone who
doesn't want to just practice massage. I do know of hospitals who employ Nurse Massage Therapists, but they are, in essence, full time massage therapist doing only massage therapy (which, I understand, is not what you want to do). I know a few other nurses who went to massage school after they were nurses, but use it outside of the hospital setting. When I close my eyes and picture a perfect nursing situation, I see myself having oodles of time to tend to all of my patients, give them full massages and have lengthy conversations with them, but who am I kidding? ...I barely have time to get them their medications.
Just my opinion: I think it would be a waste of time for you to go to massage school 'cause there is very little time to do any type of massage on patients in most types of facilities (which is a shame). You may benefit from some basic massage workshops that will teach how to give "spot" massages (hands, feet, scalp) as those day workshops will be much more practical for what you're looking to do.
Would you like to comment?
