what the heck are medical assistant schools doing !

Nurses General Nursing

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I'm an RN, in the ER. I know of 4 people who, in my opinion have been rooked into MA (medical assistant ) schools. Each on of these people have been told that , MA , can do everything an RN can do. Not sure about you but I don't think the Cardiac Thorasic Dr's want an MA to care for a crashing patient at 2:00 am. My best freind completed an ma course, her med list MOM, TD, Botox(go figure why this is even on a med list for an ma)etc. As compaired to an RN list of inatrops, ca blockers etc..

Any one have any ideas of how to stop the practice of ma schools comparing ma 's to Rn's? :nono:

relax everyone...he's calling all of us monkeys (in essence) that are skill hounds...

I give the same speech to my students each semester...Students, in clinicals, are soooo skill focused...I tell them that monkeys can be trained to start IVs and drop NGTs...the real essence of nursing is relating to, and understanding the needs of your patients...that is the real skill...if you have poor bedside manner, but are great at IVs, then you are a worthless (monkey) in my book...

that's all the poster was saying...

It is not anywhere true that monkeys can be trained to do all that we do. You must have been talking to my former supervisor, who believed that OR nurses could all be replaced by monkeys.

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Specializes in Home health.

This was discussed on an earlier thread and this website article was posted.

www.fsmaonline.org/officenurse.htm

The article makes it clear that a medical assistant legally can not refer to themselves as a " nurse."

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young buck ha ha ha, ok. i can do front office , back office, middle office ,underneath the office, what ever office you want me to do. if you want to fill my shoes, come to work with me. i'll even orient you. then , when we get that code, open heart that is going bad, trauma or mi, i'll have you do the rapid transfuser, explain to me the dynamics of your critical patient . also, at 2 am, i want you to talk to dr. levy,(who, by the way will be able to tell if you'r a nurse who is bs'ing him and will be sure to let you know that your an idiot in no uncertain terms...and i can't blame him, he is responsible for that patients outcome) you'll need to explain to him why you started the levo, dopa, epi etc.. and be able to cooralate why you initated treatments according the the hemodynamic peramiters, abgs's , general patient assessment. hope your ready when he comes in to see what's up with the patient.. he's not going to be in good mood when he comes in at 2 am. when he wants to know what the ekg says, he won't mean , how did you set it up. he'll want to know if he heart is functioning well, if it's getting blood supply (do you know what to look for (no...not the rubbish at the top of the ekg that says, abnormal ekg !) whoops, overwhelming, well then let the people who are trained for the big guns do it. if i don't know an office, it may be stressful until i learn the routine, but , got it covered, no big deal. critical thinking is not something you can learn by skimming the surface of patient care. "oh , all of the above and more are what i expect of the nurses i train. think you can do it? i realize what i said sounds cocky, but when one of our loved ones is being cared for do you want the one that knows their job or one that saves the hospital money. when i do a serious job i expect serious action ! you have to be top of your game all of the time as a nurse. as nurses we have to be on top of our game to not let changes happen that will most importantly endanger our patients or endanger or jobs!

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Would love to hear from the RN who wants to get action going on this. Please write me on this forum and I will get back to you. We need organization on this matter !

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Young Buck Ha Ha Ha, Ok. I can do front office , back office, middle office ,underneath the office, what ever office you want me to do. If you want to fill my shoes, come to work with me. I'll even orient you. Then , when we get that code, open heart that is going bad, trauma or MI, I'll have you do the rapid transfuser, explain to me the dynamics of your critical patient . Also, at 2 am, I want you to talk to Dr. Levy,(who, by the way will be able to tell if you bs'ing him and will be sure to let you know that your an idiot in no uncertain terms...and I can't blame him, he is responsible for that patients outcome) You'll need to explain to him why you started the Levo, Dopa, Epi etc.. and be able to cooralate why you initated treatments according the the hemodynamic peramiters, ABGs's , general patient assessment. Hope your ready when he comes in to see what's up with the patient.. He's not going to be in good mood when he comes in at 2 am. When he wants to know what the EKG says, he won't mean , how did you set it up. He'll want to know if he heart is functioning well, if it's getting blood supply (do you know what to look for (no...not the rubbish at the top of the EKG that says, abnormal ekg !) Whoops, overwhelming, well then let the people who are trained for the BIG GUNS do it. If I don't know an office, it may be stressful until I learn the routine, but , got it covered, no big deal. Critical thinking is not something you can learn by skimming the surface of patient care. "Oh , all of the above and more are what I expect of the nurses I train. Think you can do it? I realize what I said sounds cocky, but when one of our loved ones is being cared for do you want the one that knows their job or one that saves the hospital money. When I do a serious job I EXPECT serious action ! You have to be top of your game all of the time as a nurse. As nurses we have to be on top of our game to not let changes happen that will most importantly endanger our patients or endanger or jobs!

Well worded!:nurse: :nurse:

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Specializes in Cardiac.
Young Buck Ha Ha Ha, Ok. I can do front office , back office, middle office ,underneath the office, what ever office you want me to do. If you want to fill my shoes, come to work with me. I'll even orient you. Then , when we get that code, open heart that is going bad, trauma or MI, I'll have you do the rapid transfuser, explain to me the dynamics of your critical patient . Also, at 2 am, I want you to talk to Dr. Levy,(who, by the way will be able to tell if you bs'ing him and will be sure to let you know that your an idiot in no uncertain terms...and I can't blame him, he is responsible for that patients outcome) You'll need to explain to him why you started the Levo, Dopa, Epi etc.. and be able to cooralate why you initated treatments according the the hemodynamic peramiters, ABGs's , general patient assessment. Hope your ready when he comes in to see what's up with the patient.. He's not going to be in good mood when he comes in at 2 am. When he wants to know what the EKG says, he won't mean , how did you set it up. He'll want to know if he heart is functioning well, if it's getting blood supply (do you know what to look for (no...not the rubbish at the top of the EKG that says, abnormal ekg !) Whoops, overwhelming, well then let the people who are trained for the BIG GUNS do it. If I don't know an office, it may be stressful until I learn the routine, but , got it covered, no big deal. Critical thinking is not something you can learn by skimming the surface of patient care. "Oh , all of the above and more are what I expect of the nurses I train. Think you can do it? I realize what I said sounds cocky, but when one of our loved ones is being cared for do you want the one that knows their job or one that saves the hospital money. When I do a serious job I EXPECT serious action ! You have to be top of your game all of the time as a nurse. As nurses we have to be on top of our game to not let changes happen that will most importantly endanger our patients or endanger or jobs!

LOL! I love this post. Well done...

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
This was discussed on an earlier thread and this website article was posted.

www.fsmaonline.org/officenurse.htm

The article makes it clear that a medical assistant legally can not refer to themselves as a " nurse."

Thanks for posting that.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
I hope those of you who are disturbed by these schools lying and misrepresenting will join me in letting your state reps and senators know what's going on so they can legislate a stop to it.

We had such a thing here in New York earlier this year. In my last semester of LPN school, we were invited to Albany, and this was discussed in depth (although I didn't make it). I heard that they are considering removing the word 'nurse' from 'nurse technicians, baby-nurse, etc... stating that only those who have successfully passed NCLEX-PN/RN can call themselves nurses. After seeing this thread, I wished I did attend, and will consider doing so in the future. Keep us posted on this, please.

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Hello,

I did start a MA program last year the total cost was about 13,000. I quite the program because not only was it a waste of money/time and education was a joke. Though going into this program I as aware what MA were. I was also aware health care resposiblities was going to be a MA and not of credits will transfer. I left the program after just two months and wasted about 3,000 and so gland that I did not finish the program. One of the MA teachers quote that she was just as trained and was better then most LPN. This is another reason why I left the program. I think they give a lot of students fase hope with careers in the MA filed. Instead I am working on starting my prereq and looking into RN programs. For the price and the amount of time it takes to be a certificate MA you might has will go for LPN. Most schools will take LPN as advance placement for RN programs so it is not a waste of time or money. If you are going for with a MA ASD program you might want to think about a RN ASD program it takes just as long. It is sad that so many people post very nagative comments about MA. I do belive the have a very important role in health care just as LPN or RN. They are train to do so many things in the health care field and they deserve respect. There are so many MA that working in office sitting and do so many task that genaraly a RN or LPN. In a way helps the nursing shortage and place more nurses in hospital were we need them the most. I think most MA are not looking to called "nurses" but becasue the general public is not as well education as many of so many us are on the different levels of heath care profession. I also think that most of are post are correct when it come to some of the advertisements for these tech schools are sort of misleading. I wish that instead these schools offered LPN program instead of MA programs with classes that would transfer to other schools.

The the comment below I did not say all MA not looking to be called nurses. I stated most MA are not looking to be called nurses.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Hello,

I did start a MA program last year the total cost was about 13,000. I quite the program because not only was it a waste of money/time and education was a joke. Though going into this program I as aware what MA were. I was also aware health care resposiblities was going to be a MA and not of credits will transfer. I left the program after just two months and wasted about 3,000 and so gland that I did not finish the program. One of the MA teachers quote that she was just as trained and was better then most LPN. This is another reason why I left the program. I think they give a lot of students fase hope with careers in the MA filed. Instead I am working on starting my prereq and looking into RN programs. For the price and the amount of time it takes to be a certificate MA you might has will go for LPN. Most schools will take LPN as advance placement for RN programs so it is not a waste of time or money. If you are going for with a MA ASD program you might want to think about a RN ASD program it takes just as long. It is sad that so many people post very nagative comments about MA. I do belive the have a very important role in health care just as LPN or RN. They are train to do so many things in the health care field and they deserve respect. There are so many MA that working in office sitting and do so many task that genaraly a RN or LPN. In a way helps the nursing shortage and place more nurses in hospital were we need them the most. I think most MA are not looking to called "nurses" but becasue the general public is not as well education as many of so many us are on the different levels of heath care profession. I also think that most of are post are correct when it come to some of the advertisements for these tech schools are sort of misleading. I wish that instead these schools offered LPN program instead of MA programs with classes that would transfer to other schools.

Actually, I have seen arrogant MAs that consider themselves to be NURSES. I am not trying to discredit the honest ones that admit that they are not, but there are some that will misrepresent themselves. I had a friend who is an LPN that worked in a large clinic, and she told me that when patients would call and ask to speak to a nurse, the MA would come walk right past her, answer the phone, and say "I am the charge nurse". My friend was highly insulted and told her so; however, my friend was also a new nurse that was not totally familiar with many things. But she held her ground, went to the physicians and told them that under no circumstances, would she allow the MA to 'override' her.

But, when you think about it, Physician Assistants also are falsely represented. Many patients believe that they are doctors, and in my clinic, the populations we serve really do not comprehend the difference, and it is also common practice for many staff members to call them doctors, also.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Pediatrics, Geriatrics.
Whoops, overwhelming, well then let the people who are trained for the BIG GUNS do it.

:bow: :bow: I love this!:cheers:

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I have a question for you... kinda on topic, i dunno...

so a few weeks ago i was admitted into a local hospital (kidney stones- ugh) and during the night I heard my CNA come in to check my vitals... so Im sorta drugged but aware of whats going on... she looks at my arm and says "oh no, no, no" and I look down and see that my IV has back out and i have blood all over the place... so she quickly "fixes" my bad arm and then begins to start a line on my left arm... My first thought was "ummmm can she do this?" Here is the bad part... she cant find a vessel so she is DIGGING under my skin! No not just lightly trying to penetrate BUT DIGGING ROUGHLY and it went on for 10 MINS!!! NO JOKE!!! I finally spoke up and asked her if she was allowed to do that and she gave me a REALLY BAD LOOK and left the room immediatly... the next thing I knew my RN came in and put the IV in my hand and left like nothing happened....

So since when are CNAs allowed to do what she did? I am just a student, and maybe naive but I STILL HAVE about a 5 inch bruise where she was digging in my arm!

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