Don't Call Them Nurses!

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Nov 6, 2014

I get what you mean. I have worked with good ones and terrible ones. Some have great training and some only what the doc taught them.

As far as your flu shot the same thing happened to me. Here is what the CDC says about that: [h=3]Should I repeat a dose of influenza vaccine administered by an incorrect route (such as subcutaneous)?[/h]If the dose (amount) of vaccine was age-appropriate, it can be counted as valid if given by the subcutaneous route. If an intramuscular formulation is given by the intradermal route it should not be counted.

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Nov 6, 2014

Several other threads on this, we DO have strong opinions!! :eek:

I personally will call the MA's out in the practice I am a patient at. I work for a large multi-specialty clinic with several satellite locations. Outside of administrative personnel, meaning actual patient care/hands on type of employees, RN's make up over half. In my department of 6 MD's, there are 14 RN's. That's more than 3 times the number of RN's on staff of the clinic where I go as a patient, and there are more MD's there! I'm pretty proud that where I work places such a high value on us.

NOW, that said. I work in a state where there is no protection/discipline for ANYONE to say they are a nurse. Reception where I work will page "any nurse please pick up ####", which does irk me a little b/c more often than not it is not a nurse who will answer the call. But they are very good at saying "this is Susie, one of the techs, how may I help you?"

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Nov 6, 2014

Story: sister in law was told by MA her urine culture was negative, no need for follow up. I knew her presentation/ symptoms. She is diabetic, and had developed confusion. I called and spoke with the doctor... whoops! She had a raging UTI.

Opinion: the doctors will continue to utilize MA's to line their own pockets. Know somebody in the medical field to watch your back.

stephatron289 · Nov 7, 2014

As MAs, we are trained in our schooling to give injections correctly. That upsets me that you got a flu shot as subQ, as proper injections are drilled in our heads at school. Also, your MAs should know better than to give medical advice over the phone, and should only be relaying information giving directly by the doctor. If a patient were to ask me about results and the doctor did not document the OK to give those results, then you don't give them, regardless of what the MA may think. If I'm asked a question that is in response to a symptom a patient is having, we are supposed to ask the doctor (most of the time, my response when patients ask that is, "I don't get paid enough to answer that *smiling*, but let me double check with *insert doctor/NP here*)

As an MA, if you work in the medical field and you know you've been given medication incorrectly, please call us out! It upsets me when I hear about MA's not doing their jobs correctly, because it casts the rest of us in poor lighting.

ComeTogether, LPN · Nov 7, 2014

The majority of doctors in my area refer to their medical assistants as nurses. I feel this is no different than calling a PA a doctor. Most medical offices do not hire LVNs any more, and MAs are used just like LVNs were/are. I recently received a flu shot where the skin was pulled up as with a SQ injection. I did not feel it. I wonder what size needle was used, and most of all, I wonder if the injection will be effective.
My brother was recently told by a MA that the side effect he was experiencing from a new medication had nothing to do with the med. He insisted on an appointment and the med was immediately stopped. MAs are apparently not trained in how to give injections, and they have no educational background for talking to patients about medical issues.
This is going to become a real problem in the future. Most people do not know if they are getting misinformation or getting an injection correctly. I do want to give credit to the MAs who want to learn and do the job correctly. There are some, I am sure. But they should never be called nurse.
Anyone else out there have any stories or opinions on this subject?

I completed a Medical Assistant program in 2003, and it definitely prepared me to work in a doctors office, but only to do as instructed. I knew how to give immunizations, draw blood, etc. But I promise you, I had no business counseling a patient. Looking back, I don't think that I understood the reasoning behind anything I learned to do. It was a very fast paced program and I didn't retain much of what I learned.

I think there is a place for MAs in healthcare, but I really think there needs to be at least one RN on duty per MD who can take calls from patients, educate, etc., and doc's really need to call the MAs what they are - assistants.

tuxedopenguino · Nov 7, 2014

A little bit of a tangent, but it must be incredibly confusing to be a patient with no medical background or association with someone from the field. So many titles!! MDs, PAs, NPs, MAs, RNs, LPNs, CNAs...PAs and NPs are similar to each other and to MDs, MAs do many of the things nurses do and are assisting the doctor, but the title sounds similar to physician assistants? so many of the roles overlap! Heck, I bring one of my (ahem, forgetful) patients to the bathroom, and they're asking me "Can you tell my nurse that I need some tylenol..." I'm your nurse!!! I feel if I were a patient with no knowledge about the field, I"ll be so confused! Who should I ask for what?!

sbtr50 · Nov 7, 2014

A wife of my husband's friend was an RN. When she referred to RN's she called them nurses and referred to LPN's as that. She separated lpn's from RN's saying the LPN's weren't really nurses. I don't know what she thought the N on the end of LPN meant. It drove me insane!!!

APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP · Nov 7, 2014

California will slap a fine on the person who claims that they are a nurse if they do not hold a license as such. The law even apples to those who do not clarify that they are, indeed, not a nurse. If a doc calls an MA a nurse, and the MA does not correct that error, the MA can get fined by the CA BON.

OCNRN63, RN · Nov 7, 2014

California will slap a fine on the person who claims that they are a nurse if they do not hold a license as such. The law even apples to those who do not clarify that they are, indeed, not a nurse. If a doc calls an MA a nurse, and the MA does not correct that error, the MA can get fined by the CA BON.

The problem is there won't be anyone around to call them on it, since doctors don't hire nurses anymore. Those who do hire nurses only hire a few here and there. The complaint would have to come from a patient, since no one else is going to police them.

APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP · Nov 7, 2014

The problem is there won't be anyone around to call them on it, since doctors don't hire nurses anymore. Those who do hire nurses only hire a few here and there. The complaint would have to come from a patient, since no one else is going to police them.

I’m around ~ and I definitely call them AND the Dr. on it.

viralnurde · Nov 7, 2014

I laughed once when a RNP called her MA her "nurse". She wasn't joking and luckily my laughing and her conversation never did converge. I never overheard her make that mistake again though. I have never seen this mistake in writing, only verbally and in smaller, more Family Practice Clinics. I'm convinced that these GP MDs think if they say "MA" or Medical Assistant" they are opening a Pandora's Box of 45 seconds more of explaining, and tick tock...

At the Mayo Clinic all MDs refer to their assistants by name and where you will find them, "Jim at the front desk" or "Jennifer at the exit window", or sit down and someone will call your name again. No titles unless you ask or they are a specialist.