Is this typical for MA's ?

Nurses General Nursing

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here we go again, talking to an ma who works in a dr's office. they had a drug rep come in, giving the usual , food, gift cirtificates etc...the rep was a sialis rep. she aked the drug rep about her husband who has a hx of htn. he said , it would be fine. so she took the samples home for her husband to try. i was sitting there in amazment. i told her that he needs to get that from his dr, not from her , recomended by a drug rep. she said , why it's ok for him to take.after all she read the info on it. i have heard of a few other ma's that freely give out meds. now as an rn , i know that most likley it is safe but, i wouldn't give out these meds in fear of loosing my licensure. heck i don't recomed meds when i'm in general conversation out in public because i have a scope of practice the abide to.i told her the weird thing is if i gave out the samples to my husband and he had a reaction in some way, i would loose my license and be fined, she laughed and said "yes you would" ! when are ma's going to be held to the standards they are trained for ! :nono: i'm really getting sick of it. i explained to her that if she gives away samples and the man she gives them to goes to the er with chest pain i hope he is willing to say that he is taking a medication that an ma gave him / no prescription. not because he wants some one to get in trouble, but because it is needed information for his care. and would he even coralate the med to the condition if he didn't get info on the med from the dr a nurse or pharmacy.

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I hear your frustration, but to touch on your last comment: many people do not get any drug info from the doc or nurses, and they pay no attention to the info given by the pharmacy. Some pharmacies require a "new drug consult" from the pharmacist before the customer is allowed to leave with the meds, or they have to sign a waiver refusing the consult, but a lot of pharmacies don't do that.

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
I'm really getting sick of it. I explained to her that if she gives away samples and the man she gives them to goes to the ER with chest pain I hope he is willing to say that he is taking a medication that an MA gave him / no prescription.

They don't have enough education to realize how very dangerous they are. It all goes back to lack of education and those commercials "In 8 short months you to can be in the exciting medical field" :barf01:

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I hear your frustration, but to touch on your last comment: many people do not get any drug info from the doc or nurses, and they pay no attention to the info given by the pharmacy. Some pharmacies require a "new drug consult" from the pharmacist before the customer is allowed to leave with the meds, or they have to sign a waiver refusing the consult, but a lot of pharmacies don't do that.

True but, they are working in their scope to do so if needed. An MA is not trained to do so, has no scope of practice( in Ohio.) By-the-way, I love your little ditty about the kitchen !

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Specializes in general internal medicine.

I agree that there are a fair share of MA's who in real life, just lookin for the fast route to not workin at walmart. what bothers me is that noone see's the deeper message in those commercials, "we'll get you through no matter what" now THAT is a scary thing to just announce that regardless of that person's personality, customer service skills, or retention skills for that matter , if you can do C average work, your in.

I have seen this face to face my whole time in school, and in the field. blatent disregard due to too much attitude and wishing they were more qualified.

wow that turned out to be longer than expected, guess i have some deep down thing about this as well, being as I get classed into this.

anyway, much love

peace out

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here we go again, talking to an ma who works in a dr's office. they had a drug rep come in, giving the usual , food, gift cirtificates etc...the rep was a sialis rep. she aked the drug rep about her husband who has a hx of htn. he said , it would be fine. so she took the samples home for her husband to try. i was sitting there in amazment. i told her that he needs to get that from his dr, not from her , recomended by a drug rep. she said , why it's ok for him to take.after all she read the info on it. i have heard of a few other ma's that freely give out meds. now as an rn , i know that most likley it is safe but, i wouldn't give out these meds in fear of loosing my licensure. heck i don't recomed meds when i'm in general conversation out in public because i have a scope of practice the abide to.i told her the weird thing is if i gave out the samples to my husband and he had a reaction in some way, i would loose my license and be fined, she laughed and said "yes you would" ! when are ma's going to be held to the standards they are trained for ! :nono: i'm really getting sick of it. i explained to her that if she gives away samples and the man she gives them to goes to the er with chest pain i hope he is willing to say that he is taking a medication that an ma gave him / no prescription. not because he wants some one to get in trouble, but because it is needed information for his care. and would he even coralate the med to the condition if he didn't get info on the med from the dr a nurse or pharmacy.

let her laugh and titter all she wants. she's not as home free as she thinks she is. she's breaking the law: diagnosing, prescribing, and dispensing meds without a license. yes, this could be reported to the appropriate authorities. obviously she's too ignorant to realize that. today she's bringing samples home to her husband, next week it could be for a friend or neighbor, after all she read all the info on it. the pity is that she could seriously harm someone. if it comes to that, ignorance is not a valid defense in court, bet that will really make her chuckle.

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Specializes in IM/Critical Care/Cardiology.

I'm wondering if you reported her, your conversation with her, your knowledge of the scope of practice and yet knew she was stealing, potentially could harm someone?

This could put a stop to this "MA"s behaviour and possibly career where you are working. Which would be the right thing to do.

I don't believe snitching would even accurately describe this, it needs to be addressed and to the appropriate people, in all fairness and seriousness.

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here we go again, talking to an ma who works in a dr's office. they had a drug rep come in, giving the usual , food, gift cirtificates etc...the rep was a sialis rep. she aked the drug rep about her husband who has a hx of htn. he said , it would be fine. so she took the samples home for her husband to try. i was sitting there in amazment. i told her that he needs to get that from his dr, not from her , recomended by a drug rep. she said , why it's ok for him to take.after all she read the info on it. i have heard of a few other ma's that freely give out meds. now as an rn , i know that most likley it is safe but, i wouldn't give out these meds in fear of loosing my licensure. heck i don't recomed meds when i'm in general conversation out in public because i have a scope of practice the abide to.i told her the weird thing is if i gave out the samples to my husband and he had a reaction in some way, i would loose my license and be fined, she laughed and said "yes you would" ! when are ma's going to be held to the standards they are trained for ! :nono: i'm really getting sick of it. i explained to her that if she gives away samples and the man she gives them to goes to the er with chest pain i hope he is willing to say that he is taking a medication that an ma gave him / no prescription. not because he wants some one to get in trouble, but because it is needed information for his care. and would he even coralate the med to the condition if he didn't get info on the med from the dr a nurse or pharmacy.

say what??? as an rn you know it is most likely safe???

if it is safe, then why even post this or worry about it?

it is not safe for an unlicensed person to give out prescription medications to a person who has not been evaluated by an md.

i am just a dum a@@ lpn and i know better than that.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I completed a medical assisting (MA) program at a trade school a little over 7 years ago. Admittedly, I did not receive any pharmacology training or education on medications during my time in this program. Back in those days, I would have never given any medical or drug advice with my sorely limited knowledge base.

Even today, with my LVN licensure, I refuse to bestow any medical or drug advice upon others due to the liability issues involved. After all, "loose lips sink ships!"

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Specializes in geriatrics,med/surg,vents.

How about the drug rep who told her it would be fine?Does he have anything like a scope of practice?

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Say what??? As an RN you know it is most likely safe???

If it is safe, then why even post this or worry about it?

It is NOT safe for an unlicensed person to give out prescription medications to a person who has not been evaluated by an MD.

.

I am just a dum a@@ LPN and I know better than that.

First of all you're an LPN. Not a dumb a@@ LPN, don't talk about yourself that way! I think though you miss understood the statement about, as an RN, I know it's most likley safe. What I ment was thinking through the pharm of the medication, it is a fairly safe medication according to the PDR. I'm not speaking of the saftey for her husband, I'm talking about the med in general. It's not the medication I'm worried about, it's the things MA are allowed to do in the office, and it seems to be all OK with the DR. She wasn't stealing,the drug rep the Dr and office manager all knew the MA's were taking the med home. (the meds were samples )The Dr actually encouraged it without seeing the MA's husbands. (now that is really stupid(another stupid move on the part of the DR) I would encourage you not to insinuate that I'm a "dumb RN".:nono: I am clear about the RN's scope of practice, seems there are some grey areas when it comes to MA's. I bring up the topic because I don't work in a Dr's office, and I continually hear about MA's doing such practice. That is a concern for the medical community as a whole. MA's are doing things in the office that they have no buisness doing.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
How about the drug rep who told her it would be fine?Does he have anything like a scope of practice?

I agree with you here. aparently the drug reps are doctors now?

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