Still on my soapbox

[Guttercat]

Wondering where the bottom will be. Our local hospital started actively hiring Medical Assistants not long ago (now that they are on a tiered system with higher levels of legal scope of practice). Now, they're not only hiring them, but asking the college to add another semester of MA program enrollment which effectively doubles the yearly output of MA graduates. What they're not asking for are more nurses. (They had started hiring LPN's instead of RN's, but now the focus is on MA's.)While this example is a microcosm-- and admittedly anecdotal evidence-- it makes me shudder when I think of the future of nursing. Where does it all end?

[amygarside]

I don't know how true this is but most employers are really looking for BSNs now

[olivia60]

What are MA's? Are they medical personel that are licensed for just giving meds? I live in New Mexico and I have not seen that yet but I have heard of them.

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

What are MA's? Are they medical personel that are licensed for just giving meds? I live in New Mexico and I have not seen that yet but I have heard of them.

I second the above, except I've never even heard of them. Out here in rural America, we get around to new stuff when everybody else has already figured out it doesn't work.

Why I love AN. It alerts me to new and exciting nursing developments:)

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

What are MA's? Are they medical personel that are licensed for just giving meds? I live in New Mexico and I have not seen that yet but I have heard of them.

MA=Medical Assistant. Since it's not a regulated thing, there are people who have gone through a course that gives them a certificate (Certified Medical Assistants) and something called Registered Medical Assistants.

What they can do is so greatly varied as to make it an utterly useless designation. No license required, no certification required. One can walk in off the street without having completed high school, fill out the job application at their local doctor's office, and be hired to be an MA. Some do vitals, blood draws, updating medical charts, etc in offices, where they are most widely used. It's pretty common to have patients ask "the nurse" a question, not knowing that the person she's asked barely knows how to take a blood pressure (and usually doesn't know what the numbers mean).

I started a thread about non-nurses calling themselves nurses, and the confusion that having MAs often brings.

Some people are "certified" to pass medications, usually after taking a six-week course. They can often be found in LTC facilities. I would not be the nurse who is responsible for patients getting medications that someone ELSE---and a non-nurse at that---has given!

[OCNRN63, RN]

MA=Medical Assistant. Since it's not a regulated thing, there are people who have gone through a course that gives them a certificate (Certified Medical Assistants) and something called Registered Medical Assistants.

What they can do is so greatly varied as to make it an utterly useless designation. No license required, no certification required. One can walk in off the street without having completed high school, fill out the job application at their local doctor's office, and be hired to be an MA. Some do vitals, blood draws, updating medical charts, etc in offices, where they are most widely used. It's pretty common to have patients ask "the nurse" a question, not knowing that the person she's asked barely knows how to take a blood pressure (and usually doesn't know what the numbers mean).

I started a thread about non-nurses calling themselves nurses, and the confusion that having MAs often brings.

Some people are "certified" to pass medications, usually after taking a six-week course. They can often be found in LTC facilities. I would not be the nurse who is responsible for patients getting medications that someone ELSE---and a non-nurse at that---has given!

AMEN!!!

If someone wants to give meds, shots, give respiratory treatments, etc., then fine. Just so if they make a mistake, the consequences fall on them. I won't take responsibility for meds I didn't give, shots I didn't give, and anything else I didn't do.

​I'm going to stop at that, before I say something that will get me in trouble.

[OCNRN63, RN]

MA=Medical Assistant. Since it's not a regulated thing, there are people who have gone through a course that gives them a certificate (Certified Medical Assistants) and something called Registered Medical Assistants.

What they can do is so greatly varied as to make it an utterly useless designation. No license required, no certification required. One can walk in off the street without having completed high school, fill out the job application at their local doctor's office, and be hired to be an MA. Some do vitals, blood draws, updating medical charts, etc in offices, where they are most widely used. It's pretty common to have patients ask "the nurse" a question, not knowing that the person she's asked barely knows how to take a blood pressure (and usually doesn't know what the numbers mean).[

/b]I started a thread about non-nurses calling themselves nurses, and the confusion that having MAs often brings.

Some people are "certified" to pass medications, usually after taking a six-week course. They can often be found in LTC facilities. I would not be the nurse who is responsible for patients getting medications that someone ELSE---and a non-nurse at that---has given!

My Dad was waiting for a call from "the nurse" at his doctor's office. I asked him if she was really a nurse, and he said, "Well, I guess so...they have a line at the office where you can call and leave a message for a nurse." I tried to explain how doctors' offices hire people who aren't nurses, but refer to them as nurses. Neither he nor my mother could understand what the big deal was. I finally gave up.

[olivia60]

There are no Medical Assistants in the hospitals here either.

[BloomNurseRN, ASN, BSN, RN]

I have an acquaintance who was recently talked in to stopping her nursing pre-req's to do an MA associate degree instead. Her advisor told her there weren't as many jobs for nurses and she would have TONS of opportunities as an MA. I couldn't say a thing because she had already changed her major and classes. I know the only places in my area that hire MA's are medical offices and even they are moving to more LPN's and RN's because we can do so much more. Made no sense to me and made me so mad.

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

I was in the urgent care last week and the lady taking my VS - I noticed that there was no title (RN, MA) on her name tag. I thought of this thread and curiousity got the best of me. I asked her " so does this clinic hire medical assistants?"

" Oh yes, she replied. If you are interested pick up an application at the front desk on your way out. Our sister clinic in the neighboring town is also going to be hiring."

"Ok, I was just asking for a friend. What about for nurses?"

"Umm not sure about nurses, I think they sometimes will." She said hesitantly.

Now there is not even a MA training program in this rural area I live in so I imagine it is more like CNA's she is talking about. Yikes!

[olivia60]

Well I was watching Nurse Jackie last night and the episode had a computer holding medications and nurses having to push a pin number to get patient's meds. Are computers going to take over nursing too? Can you imagine, a computer just like vending machines and it effectively replaces that part of a nurses job. So now I think that just maybe Licensed Medical Assistants could be in the works to save hospitals money.