MA saying she's "the same as an RN"

Nursing Students General Students

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At my job, we are offered classes each month for our CEU's as LNA's. We were at one the other day for some psych training, and we were asked what we wanted to be doing in 5 years. Myself and another woman said that hopefully we be all graduated and working as RN's, since we're both in nursing school.

Another woman said that she was graduating next week from an Medical Assistant program, and how it was "exactly the same as being an RN", but she got her degree faster, but won't get the same money (and she proceeded to b!tch about that).

Now, I've seen the debate here in the General Nursing discussion, but this just chapped my rearend. I think MA's are great - as are LNA's and LPN's and RN's and everyone that works in healthcare. A friend of mine is an MA, but she does not pass herself off as a nurse. Another friend is a Surgical Tech, and while she doesn't say she's an RN, her son calls her a nurse, saying his mom told him she did "more" nursing in the OR than the nurses do. I've corrected him twice about it, but don't anymore. It just bugs me that I'm busting my hump to become an RN, yet anyone that works in healthcare feels they can call themselves one.

I'm so careful, I don't even call myself an SN while at work, and don't call myself an LNA while in clinical!

I don't know why people can't be proud of what they are. Some of the best tips and knowledge I've gotten on the job has been from the LNA's, many of which are career LNA's. THey're damn good at what they do! It's bothersome that some feel it all comes down to you're either a nurse, or have to claim to be one to be recognized.

Anyway, I kept my mouth shut when this LNA/MA was going off, but I so wanted to say, "So if you're the same as an RN, why won't the hospital or the state recognize you as one? Why? Because you aren't. You may as well call yourself an astronaut. You aren't one of those either!"

Okay, back to the regularly scheduled programming.

One of the Medical Assisting schools in Columbus, Ga has a program which lasts only 3 months at the most. I went to this same school for Phlebotomy a few years ago and had inquired about it. In no way can they say they are a nurse. In that case I'm one too, I've completed two quarters of nursing school so far...

wow! what a hot topic! i have been reading them with great interest as i can relate to both sides of the argument. i have been a cma for four years and am also a nursing student.

first: i think that we should all be proud of who we are regardless of what initals follow our names and do what we can to help each other out. really, shouldn't our collective goal be the same? on every floor and clinic we are all working towards the same thing.

to clarify a few things about the role of the medical assistant: at first the medical assistant was allowed to work only the direct supervison of an md. the medical assistant still doesn't have a huge degree of autonomy but the role has shifted (atleast in michigan) to allow the ma to work under the direct supervisong of an rn. the ma does not have a license of lisencing board to answer to, the md or rn takes responsibilty for them. in both states where i have worked as an ma ( colorado and michigan) the ma was not allowed to perform any type of infusions, iv placement with out specific training nor are they allowed to pass most medications. i have admistered im medications in the private practice setting but have not in the hospital setting. also, ma's can also fill the job title of " patient care tech" in which case they work under the rn and their scope is widened to include removing iv's, placing foley's ( after going through a course to do so) and do wound care etc etc... all in all, it depends on where you encounter the ma. in private practice it is all in what the doc is willing to allow the ma's to do. i have seen ma's in a private practive doing straight caths on children and myself have given rhocephin on many occassions. my pet peeve with ma's is that they are by an large satisfyed with knowing and doing the very min.

from my experience ( which you can take with a grain of salt ) working in peds and immunology/asthma/allergy, the ma group as a whole is not your cream of the crop. that does not mean that you don't have a shining stars. when i am at work, i am a medical assistant. i do my job well and every day i do the best job that i can. i learn all that i can about what i'm doing so that when that patient/parent says to me " what did the doctor mean when he said this..." i can confidently explain the to them the way the body system works, the normal disease processes of the system and how and why their medications work. i have never been satisfied with being a medical assiant because i am not satisfyed with simply being able to perform well clinically.i want to know why...and when asked a question, i don't want to say " i don't know, let me get the doctor" for a simple question.

which is why nurses are nurses! they ask why and they look for what comes next and they see a bigger picture. they have foresight that saves time and gives confidence to the patients. i love nurses because i learn from them. they have taken me under their wings and have shown me far more than any book could. not all ma's want to learn from the nurse and quite a few of them view themselves as equals. ma's cover a wide variety of tasks but may not know any one of them as they should to be competent enough to be in the same class as a nurse. i can see why it is frustrating for the nurses when the ma's don't respect where they have been and the knowledge they have. also, ma's (in general) are not taught to have foresight and often find it easy to leave things mediocre, barely done.nurses, as a whole, are perfectionist and mediocrity is out of the question for them.

so while each profession is different, each title is earned and each should be respected. the nurses i work with hate the thought of me even having a day off ( i do a great deal of their phone triage) but i could imagine getting through a day with out them. we need eachother. i am sad to say that ma's don't acknowledge this-- but please, don't stop investing in the ones who are willing to learn from you! and don't think for one second you are about learning from them!

as a nursing student i see how hard it is to be a nurse,even thought i've got the clinical experience i do. i admire those nurses even more as a student!as a medical assistant, i am competent and educated and hard working. i would never think to overstep the limits of the scope of practice set before me and i always ask questions of those who know better than i. my patients always know who i am and i have never had one request to speak with a doctor or nurse over me. there are , however, many times that i could not answer a question. i immediatly asked the nurse to help me and i listened to their response, so i learned right along with the patient.

i hope that after reading this you will look at each ma before disregarding her as " just an ma". some of us actually look up to you and may be working with you one day.

let me know whatcha think! i'm ansxious to see what you think!

have a great day!

missy:chair:

wow! what a hot topic! i have been reading them with great interest as i can relate to both sides of the argument. i have been a cma for four years and am also a nursing student.

first: i think that we should all be proud of who we are regardless of what initals follow our names and do what we can to help each other out. really, shouldn't our collective goal be the same? on every floor and clinic we are all working towards the same thing.

to clarify a few things about the role of the medical assistant: at first the medical assistant was allowed to work only the direct supervison of an md. the medical assistant still doesn't have a huge degree of autonomy but the role has shifted (atleast in michigan) to allow the ma to work under the direct supervisong of an rn. the ma does not have a license of lisencing board to answer to, the md or rn takes responsibilty for them. in both states where i have worked as an ma ( colorado and michigan) the ma was not allowed to perform any type of infusions, iv placement with out specific training nor are they allowed to pass most medications. i have admistered im medications in the private practice setting but have not in the hospital setting. also, ma's can also fill the job title of " patient care tech" in which case they work under the rn and their scope is widened to include removing iv's, placing foley's ( after going through a course to do so) and do wound care etc etc... all in all, it depends on where you encounter the ma. in private practice it is all in what the doc is willing to allow the ma's to do. i have seen ma's in a private practive doing straight caths on children and myself have given rhocephin on many occassions. my pet peeve with ma's is that they are by an large satisfyed with knowing and doing the very min.

from my experience ( which you can take with a grain of salt ) working in peds and immunology/asthma/allergy, the ma group as a whole is not your cream of the crop. that does not mean that you don't have a shining stars. when i am at work, i am a medical assistant. i do my job well and every day i do the best job that i can. i learn all that i can about what i'm doing so that when that patient/parent says to me " what did the doctor mean when he said this..." i can confidently explain the to them the way the body system works, the normal disease processes of the system and how and why their medications work. i have never been satisfied with being a medical assiant because i am not satisfyed with simply being able to perform well clinically.i want to know why...and when asked a question, i don't want to say " i don't know, let me get the doctor" for a simple question.

which is why nurses are nurses! they ask why and they look for what comes next and they see a bigger picture. they have foresight that saves time and gives confidence to the patients. i love nurses because i learn from them. they have taken me under their wings and have shown me far more than any book could. not all ma's want to learn from the nurse and quite a few of them view themselves as equals. ma's cover a wide variety of tasks but may not know any one of them as they should to be competent enough to be in the same class as a nurse. i can see why it is frustrating for the nurses when the ma's don't respect where they have been and the knowledge they have. also, ma's (in general) are not taught to have foresight and often find it easy to leave things mediocre, barely done.nurses, as a whole, are perfectionist and mediocrity is out of the question for them.

so while each profession is different, each title is earned and each should be respected. the nurses i work with hate the thought of me even having a day off ( i do a great deal of their phone triage) but i could imagine getting through a day with out them. we need eachother. i am sad to say that ma's don't acknowledge this-- but please, don't stop investing in the ones who are willing to learn from you! and don't think for one second you are about learning from them!

as a nursing student i see how hard it is to be a nurse,even thought i've got the clinical experience i do. i admire those nurses even more as a student!as a medical assistant, i am competent and educated and hard working. i would never think to overstep the limits of the scope of practice set before me and i always ask questions of those who know better than i. my patients always know who i am and i have never had one request to speak with a doctor or nurse over me. there are , however, many times that i could not answer a question. i immediatly asked the nurse to help me and i listened to their response, so i learned right along with the patient.

i hope that after reading this you will look at each ma before disregarding her as " just an ma". some of us actually look up to you and may be working with you one day.

let me know whatcha think! i'm ansxious to see what you think!

have a great day!

missy:chair:

i start the rn program in the spring, and elected to take the ma pharm and math for meds course. the folks in the class seem nice, and many are very excited about their new career, but because a lot of them didn't recognize me from their other classes some were a bit cooler after learning i was actual a pre-nursing student. :uhoh21: a few proceeded to go on and on about the course work being the same and such and how they took a&p too etc... i just smiled and said that i heard the m.a. program at this school is great, and that quieted them. others though couldn't have been nicer, gave me info about the instructor and how she tests and grades etc... it all comes down to people. i chose not to get in a big huff about class levels and the depth of knowledge etc... deep down those that feel the need to puff themselves up know the real deal. every body is needed and should be respected and valued, but no, the two are not interchangeable or "the same". :)

I've been a MA for 6 years and have recently decided to return to school for my RN degree. My MA program was a 2 yr associate degree program. In my opinion, MA's are quite skilled to perform in a physician or outpatient setting performing skills such as phlebotomy, injections, patient ed. etc. But the critical thinking skills are quite different from an RN or LPN. I have never represented myself as a "nurse" to any of my patients and have been quick to correct them when they or the physician made that reference. This is for 2 reasons: 1-A MA is not a nurse and does not have the same scope of practice which brings me to 2-Misrepresenting yourself as a "nurse" or otherwise has legal repercussions and liablity issues. So don't take the chance. We are what we are and should be proud of it. I would not do things any differently. Being a MA has brought me valuable insight to the healthcare arena and is what has brought me to the conclusion that I want to do more by becoming an RN.

Christie

It is the same way in Texas though I don't know how well it is enforced. I have met plenty of MAs along the way that refer to themselves as nurses. I quit the last job that I had because I had an MA working under me that told patiants that she was a nurse and was giving very bad "nursing" advice, some that could have harmed the patient if I had not caught and corrected her. I had no problem contridicting her in front of the patient either, explaining to them that she was a Medical Assistant, I was a Registered Nurse and that she did not have the training or knowledge to be dispensing advice. I was the only RN in the office (I was getting paid quite well) and brought it to the attention of the doctors in the group. The MA was a personal friend of one of the doctors and she often did things like pick up his laundry and send flowers to his girlfriend for him so he refused to get rid of her. I ended up quitting out of fear for my license.

Thought ya'll would love this - when I was a kid the doctor I went to referred to the ladies on his staff as "nurses". Well, I was ten - what did I know? I said something to my mom one day about the nurse at Dr. X's office and she corrected me - she said "he might say they're nurses, but I think they're just assistants who help out with some things, I don't think they're actually nurses".

My mom went to Norfolk General's nursing school in 1953 and my dad was a career hospital corpsman from 1951 to 1979; he flew Medevac in Korea and Vietnam. I think they could both smell the difference!

(PLEASE REALIZE this is not disrespectful to anyone!)

I just got my physical for school and the docs office I went to doesn't even have a nurse (RN, LPN)!!!! They have a medical assistant (who by the way is very good at what she does) give me my diphteria shot, ppd, veinpuncture, bp, basic asstments. Is that legal? I'm in NYC. She told me that she used to also do pap-smears but stopped cause it was way too much work. She's obviously overworked and underpaid. She would be such a great nurse though.

Specializes in OB/GYN.

I just want to say well said Missy!!!!

As an MA student thank you so much for standing up for those of us who DON"T think we are nurses, but who still enjoy the job we do and think that we are skilled at what we do. I'm

Wow. I'm not sure how comfortable I would be with an assitant placing my cath or IV line. I was shocked to learn that a MA could do this. Isn't the point of the nursing profession to make sure that nurses are trained to do these procedures properly? MA's do not have a board that governs them. I'll have to research this...

Specializes in Urgent Care.

How times have changed! I graduated from a 2 year MA program in 1993, and we were not to do anything invasive.

Also in my area, MA's actually have nametags that say " clinic nurse" as if there is a difference between clinic and hospital nursing? MA is MA- not nurse. I honestly did not realize the full difference between MA and nursing until I was in the nursing program. Alot of MA's think they do the same as nurses, and many might in the clinical setting, but the difference is quite large.

Specializes in telemetry.

Yeah, that bugs me too. At my doctor's office they have MA's, not nurses, yet they call themselves nurses & even the docs refer to them as nurses. It really bugs me. I am currently an LVN & about to graduate in May as an RN, I am also very careful about not confusing my title.

I am currently going to school to become a medical assistant and our professors have told us that when we graduate we are not LPNs or RN'S they said to become that you have to go to more schooling. it sounds like that women who says that she will be a nurse needs to get her facts straight and i agree with you Kelly the great,wannabern

Specializes in ICU, PACU, Cath Lab.

I will soon be an RN...however when I worked as a Tech..some patients would refer to me as a nurse...I would always correct them! At that time I had not been through the schooling and put in my time to be called a nurse! My mom is a MA and she would never tell someone or allow someone to think she was a nurse!!

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