Nevada Stops "Medical Assistants" from Giving Injections

My butt you can tell the difference! I am in nursing school and I had to do more injections on each other for my cert for my MA certification than I have had to do for my ADN - and I am in a highly regarded program locally. An IM is an IM - if you are trained and you know what you are doing technique is technique. As far as what needs to be monitored afterward, I was a VERY well trained MA and I always monitored for reactions to new medications. I have had an RN tell me that an IV was not infiltrated when it was, I have had an RN tell me that ranitidine was for my family member's allergies not his GERD problems (and yes I know it can be given, but at least I knew what he ACTUALLY took it for)...the list goes on and on. There are great MA's and great Nurses - and if you think that we would be able to get RN's and LPN's for every doctors office in this state (Nevada) let alone every one in the country you are sorely mistaken! We don't have enough for all of the critical needs RN positions for goshsakes. Let people have their jobs, RN is different from LPN is different from a CNA is different from an MA and all have their value.

Thanks Cherybaby,

Further to your statement, don't you find it important for nurses to "protect" their turf, just like MDs do? As you see from some comments here, patients are frequently misled as to who actually is a "nurse" (if anyone is) in their MDs Office...Several years back, the New York State Nurses Association ran a TV campaign highlighting the issue with the motto, "Ask for a REAL Nurse---a REGISTERED Nurse." Since then, however, we have succeeded in restricting use of the term "nurse" in NYState to Rns/LPNs. Progress sometimes comes in small steps, but it's worth continuing to pursue. Thanks again for your input.

Have the MA curriculum change to include giving IMs, Sub-Qs injections??

I'm sorry but MA is not certified to administered Flu shots, give medications in any kind of way. If you are giving those things with just order of the doctor without having any kind of certification under your state laws, you are out of your scope of practice, and this is a national thing. NO way in a MA curriculum is administering flu shots and medication was included, if you are/was a Certified/Registered Medical Assistant, you should've known what your scope of practice is.

Come'on Belgarion,
Everything's supposed to be bigger in Texas so why are you thinking so small? Yes, I live in NY, but attend school in NJ, have family and loved ones in several of our united States and recognize how many health care changes began as an isolated effort in one jurisdiction, e.g., Massachusetts' ongoing--and so-far pretty successful--version of mandated-insurance coverage. And at one point, Colorado was the ONLY state to authorize Nurse Practitioners. Always helpful to examine the experiences of patients and providers in different states where laws/practices/etc. differ. You gotta a "problem" with that ;-) P.S. Thanks for your info. re: TX provisions.

Everything's supposed to be bigger in Texas so why are you thinking so small? Yes, I live in NY, but attend school in NJ, have family and loved ones in several of our united States and recognize how many health care changes began as an isolated effort in one jurisdiction, e.g., Massachusetts' ongoing--and so-far pretty successful--version of mandated-insurance coverage. And at one point, Colorado was the ONLY state to authorize Nurse Practitioners. Always helpful to examine the experiences of patients and providers in different states where laws/practices/etc. differ. You gotta a "problem" with that ;-) P.S. Thanks for your info. re: TX provisions.