Medical Assistants to replace RN's?

[blueyesue]

Hello RN's. I took my daughter to the UW Children's Hospital in Madison yesterday. The nurse my daughter had was excellent. She took the time to educate my daughter on a couple of issues, and was very personable. When thanking her for the time and expertise she had shown, she stated that the whole hospital is in the process of replacing RN's with Medical Assistants to save money. She also stated that this is happening in places around the nation. My first question is has anyone been noticing this or know anything about this?

[caliotter3]

Certainly. When I was young, there were nurses in doctor's offices. Now you have MAs. It is hard to find a doctor's office that employs nurses. This change has been going on for many years. It is a cost saving measure for the medical profession.

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

ooh yes medical offices usually don't have RN's we are to expensive.. MA's are not nurses so they are much cheaper ( no offense MA's) ..,, now a hospital replacing MA's with RN's would be impossible .. it just couldn't happen .. the hospital would loose money from all the lawsuits for not using professional nurses who are trained for acute care patients ... a MA couldn't work in a hospital, they are not trained for hospital work,,,

[gerry79]

Certainly it is much cheaper for a doctors office to hire a MA rather than an RN, but in the hospital setting, MA's are not trained to work at the bedside.

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

one more thing... hospitals have to meet certian critera to stay open .. like the Joint Commison (JACHO) , the nurses also have to meet educational critera for the hospital to stay open.. MA's just can't meet that educational critera, alot of hospitals wont even hire LPN's and they are nurses.. so hospitals certianly won't hire MA's to replace RN's that just won't happen...

[Moogie]

I can see that happening in a doctor's office or a multispecialty group clinic, but not at the bedside. And certainly not at UW Hospitals in Madison because UWM has a very strong nursing program. Why would a university hospital that promotes that university's nursing programs (baccalaureate to doctoral levels) even consider replacing RNs with MAs? It would be in violation of the state nurse practice act to not have licensed personnel at the bedside. I think the person who told the OP that "everyone" is replacing RNs with MAs is misinformed and maybe the OP should speak with someone at UW Hospitals about an employee spreading an absurd and obviously false rumor.

I think MAs do save money in clinics and doctors' offices but, as a patient, I feel far more comfortable with LPN in those roles. Actually, the clinic to which I go does not utilize MAs; LPNs do the patient intake and assist the physicians and the only RN on staff is the clinic manager. I have seen RNs employed in clinics only in supervisory or specialty roles (such as oncology.)

[classykaren]

I have seen ads for LPN or MA in one local hospital

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

i think they would do better to hire a nurse who is a LPN over a MA who is not considered licensed or a nurse..

[Moogie]

I have seen ads for LPN or MA in one local hospital

But what was the job that was being advertised? If it was a position with a clinic affiliated with a hospital, there's not a problem. If it was a position in the hospital itself, providing direct bedside care, that would be a violation of nurse practice laws.

I think the nursing profession needs to be a little bit more proactive in making sure the public understands the distinction between a licensed nurse and a medical assistant or nursing assistant who is called a "nurse" at his/her place of employment. Physicians have conniptions all the time when optometrists, chiropractors, doctorally prepared nurses and other professionals refer to themselves as "doctor" but nurses just sit back without a squeak when all sorts of unlicensed personnel call themselves "nurses".

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

That will never happen. MAs will never have RN roles in hospitals.

[meandragonbrett]

MAs will not be able to replace RNs and function in the role. The state boards of nursing, American Hospital Association, CMS, and Joint Commission will never have any of that! Some hospitals DO have MAs at the bedside instead of having CNAs. Depending on their scope of practice for their state, MAs can insert foleys, draw blood via stick, do accu checks, and start IVs in addition to all of the other duties that a CNA would perform.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

In the hospital setting, you cannot replace a multifaceted manager of care with a person who simply knows how to complete tasks related to patient care.

RNs are not paid for what they do. They are paid for what they know.