How do RN's become massage therapists?

Hello,
All you need to do is enter a Massage Therapy Program of at least 500hrs.
I am a LPN and recently graduated from the Massage Therapy program here in Charleston SC.. I went to trident technical college. I have been a nurse for 2 years and I new almost right away that nursing want something that I wanted to to for the rest of my life. I didnt even know that there was a such thing a as N.M.T until I found the NANMT! I am in the process of starting my own business. I love alternative health care!

According to the association of nurse massage therapist a NMT is "A Nurse Massage Therapist is a licensed nurse who has completed at least 500 hours of post-graduate education and training in massage therapy and bodywork. As such, Nurse Massage Therapists retain a specialized body of knowledge and skill that encompasses an analytical and intuitive blend of nursing and therapeutic massage/bodywork" www.nanmt.org. I am marketing myself as a NMT just because it gives you an "edge" but I am more into wellbeing and maintaining/prevention so Ill be doing therapeutic massage. Hope this helps

Words of Encouragement.......


http://allnurses.com/forums/f300/bri...ng-260240.html

Please review this article at this website. I can only encourage those nurses who want to become a massage therapist. Enjoy.

Wow, nurses know there's no schooling required for sarcastic remarks like that one. Massage is taught, rather briefly, in nursing school. Could that mean it is part of a nurses scope of practice? And nurses are professionals and can be compensated for perfoming therapies in the practice act. You already went through years of school to be a nurse, why would you want to go back to school? Read a book and practice on your patients (with consent). Okay I'm getting to sound stupid now, but you can give massges for money as a nurse. You can't claim to be a CMT, but nurse giving good massages sounds good to people..then they can also discuss their other problems with you that they wouldn't with an MT.

I'm sorry to say you don't just "get a book and Practice" on your patients even with consent. You need to have at least 500 hours of massage therapy training. My suggestion is you need to look up the State Board laws regarding massage therapists and nursing in your state. Massage may be within the scope of our practice , however there is more to it than all of you think. Also you can contact the national certification board mentioned earlier in this forum. Now as for doing a "good massage" just because you are a nurse and collecting money for it is not in our scope of practice . #1 that is very unprofessional, #2 you are now practicing massage therapy as a massage therapist not in the scope of nursing. Our scope of practice as a nurse in massage for our patients is a night time backrub for a patient who cannot sleep or a foot and hand massage to decrease pain by 20% for a post surgical. I as a licensed massage therapist and nurse certainly would certainly not let you touch me without the proper training we go through. And while I'm at it also massage therapists do not provide psycho therapy and solve other peoples problems and that goes for nursing as well. We do a 10-15 minute interview before massage and are usually quiet during a massag eto allow the person to relax and enjoy the energy and balance of their bodies. You sir need to get a professional massage and do your homework before you give advice to nurses to just go out and collect money to do a "good massage" because you can loose your nursing license especially when while doing a massage and something happens and you do not have the knowledge base to know what to do and your nursing liability insurance will not cover you because you were acting in the capacity as a massage therapist.

Mabey you did put in the 500 hours and can't imagine someone getting paid for the same thing without your special credential.

I am extremely professional and proud of the work that I do. Please reread the answers in this forum as this is a forum about becoming a nurse massage therapist and I fully agree with a lot of the reply's posted here. I'm sorry if your a little miffed If I did not agree with yours. I'm only here to provide my many years of experience and I'm not in the job for the glorious pay we may or may not get but a nurse in some states can get into a lot of trouble doing massage without a license. I see that Nurse M.T. and Yogi rn2b also gave good solid professional advice of the same. I just don't want some nurse thinking she can be a massage therapist by reading a book. There is not one hospital here in the U.S. that will hire a nurse as a nurse massage therapist from reading a book. Sorry about your confusion about this field of nursing.

Hi!

I am not a nurse, but I am a massage therapist who works in a hospital setting. I strongly suggest you check the specific licensing requirements for the state your practice in. For instance, in New York you need something like 500-700 hours and you are licensed as a healthcare professional. If you aren't aren't registered with the state as a licensed massage therapist and you practice masage, it's a felony offense.

However in California (where I live) you only need 140 hours for a minimum certification, but each city has their own requirements to practice (some keep it at 140, others go up from there...some don't even check). Again, it is important to know the regulations for the state and city your practice in. As a general rule, most massage therapists agree it takes about 500 hours of training to really develop your touch, learn a variety of modalities, and then master those modalities that work best in your practice.

Lastly, as far as just getting a book and practicing on patients is concerned, I think that is a dangerous amount of liability to take on. I doubt you would be covered if something went wrong. To be a nurse massage therapist implies working on clients and/or patients with a wide variety of contraindications, symptoms, and illnesses. Learning from a book is fine for a basic relaxation massage on a relatively health individual, but it would be a great dis-service to work on patients without more specific hands-on training and guidance.

There is a definate difference between relaxation/spa massage, and a more clinically centered massage for patients. That's another consideration: what type of population are you interested in working with? I always wanted to work with patients in hospital settings, but without the RN I had to jump through a LOT of hoops and additional training before I got there.

I've met many RN's at my massage school, and all of them have really valued their massage training. Going to massage school is a fantastic experience! Good Luck!!

I learned Zen shiatsu in an Oriental Schol of Medicine and then asisted my teacher for three years before teaching my own classes. In Texas, I was able to practice Zen Shiatsu without a massage license and under the BON ONLY because I could demonstrate training in that modality.

maybe I'm way wrong; so in essence, having just a plain ol' RN license now is like having a H.S. diploma in nursing. It just doesn't mean as much..unless one tacks on one expensive cert or degree after another. Why not then lobby the
ANA or whoever to mandate education in specialies from the start? It's cool. I have since tacked on a couple of certs to my RN title and don't mind (CEN, MDS coordinator, BLS instructor, ACLS, PALS). But I feel I learned the most in nursing school and reading on my own. I bet you do give a great massage. Hope you keep up your other knowledge, to be flexible and marketable in this dicey economy we now have!