And I continue my rant of MAs pretending to be nurses..

[nurseby07]

Today I was at a patient's home and had to call the doctor. The answering service said "If you would like to speak to a nurse press 3" So I pressed three.

A girl came on, "This is Tina" and I said "Hi Tina I'm a nurse with so & so and your machine prompt says press three for a nurse. Are you a nurse"

Tina says "Yes. Well, an MA, same thing, go ahead"

Hmmm. What to do what to do?

May I also point out that the reason I am seeing this woman is for a major abdominal post op infection? When she came home from the hospital she developed a fever of 101 with redness and pus at the wound site. She called the service and the "nurse" told her to take an advil and come in for her scheduled appointment in a week.

This was the MA who I had spoken to. The doctor flipped when he saw the wound and she was immediately readmitted for iv abx and debridement. What is going on and who do I report her to?

[work&play]

My job as an MA is mostly to do injections. The doctor I work with prescribes B12 injections to almost everyone.

I get a line of seniors EVERY morning wanting me to inject them instead of the other MAs. Also, A lot of antibiotic. After the doctor, I ask 20x if they're not allergic to any meds. I let them leave 1/2hour after the injection if they "don't Know".

I know it's crazy, but I'm under the doctor's order.

I just want to know why do a lot of MAs LACK common sense?!?!?!?!?!

I had a patient come in with a lot of back pain, she was screaming. The doctor had walked out to have a smoke. I got the lady in and yelled out for the doctor to come in. I'm not there to make decisions.

[life_aknew]

i am an ma by trade and have not only seen this behavior amongst us personally but read of it on here as well. because the office encourages us by calling us nurses to patients and the fact that we can call in scripts (by order of the dr of course) and do injections, phlebotomy, etc-it really seems to make some ma's feel that they are no different than nurses-which is just not true.

the doctors are aware that there are some patients over others who don't feel comfortable with anyone less than a nurse, and that's why they introduce ma's as such-yes sometimes its the doc who says, "this is my nurse, speak with her.." i never felt comfortable with assuming such a title because in all sincerity i felt inferior in education and knowledge and don't like to look foolish. i agree with what one poster said; it is a growing epidemic/trend. but what to do about it? i don't know. it's easy to become drunk with power when you feel like you are your md's right hand person...

[stelon]

I'm currently a CNA working on my VN program--I'll be done at the end of the year. I can't count how many times I've stopped my patients and told them I'm the nursing ASSISTANT, not the nurse. And then explained the difference. Still, they will insist on calling me and the other aids as well by "nurse".

It gets to a point where there's not much I can do about it. I explain it multipile times a shift to the same patients over and over. I have to admit that after awhile I do tend to ignore it and just let them have their way, once it's clear nothing I say will change it.

Then the next day I start it all over again with the new patients.

[RN1982]

Today I was at a patient's home and had to call the doctor. The answering service said "If you would like to speak to a nurse press 3" So I pressed three.

A girl came on, "This is Tina" and I said "Hi Tina I'm a nurse with so & so and your machine prompt says press three for a nurse. Are you a nurse"

Tina says "Yes. Well, an MA, same thing, go ahead"

Hmmm. What to do what to do?

May I also point out that the reason I am seeing this woman is for a major abdominal post op infection? When she came home from the hospital she developed a fever of 101 with redness and pus at the wound site. She called the service and the "nurse" told her to take an advil and come in for her scheduled appointment in a week.

This was the MA who I had spoken to. The doctor flipped when he saw the wound and she was immediately readmitted for iv abx and debridement. What is going on and who do I report her to?

You are way nice...I would have said "No, it's not the same thing. I have a degree and a license, YOU have a certificate....anyhow, this patient needs to be admittled to the hospital.Get me in touch with the doctor...." Off rant. I can't tolerate fakers.

[Monica123]

MA training consists six to eight months and some private schools do not require to have a high school diploma to get in.

It is not the fault of the MA, it is the fault of the greedy doctor, office manager, clinic, etc, who want so save some money for his country club membership, new car, etc, and pay $8 to $15 per hour vs the salary of RN.

[28andcountn]

Oversight of MAs (usually) comes from the Board of Medicine not the BoN.

Do you know it was actually her who instructioned to the patient to take Advil and wait for her next appt?

Meds and injections are well within the MA scope of practice.

The manager really isn't allowing them to do anything, MAs work under the licensure of the Physicians in the practice, the manager is just carrying out their policies.

Thanks I did not know that, we all thought they were working under our licensure so that is good to know. I guess the role of the RN is not necessary in outpt primary care anymore. The lines between RN and MA are blurred. I know at our office we are instructed not to talk (assess ) the pt just get them in and get them out so where is the nursing process in that???? Things sure have changed over the last 20 years I guess you just have to go with it or be left out in the cold Pt care doesn't seem to be on the minds of the organization administrators. sigh... just my opinion.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

Oversight of MAs (usually) comes from the Board of Medicine not the BoN.

Do you know it was actually her who instructioned to the patient to take Advil and wait for her next appt?

Meds and injections are well within the MA scope of practice.

The manager really isn't allowing them to do anything, MAs work under the licensure of the Physicians in the practice, the manager is just carrying out their policies.

I was thinking the same...reporting them to the BON may not be very fruitful since MAs are not under their jurisdiction in the first place. From what I understand, they work under the license of the physician; if the physician deems them competent to follow his instructions and tasks, then, I am not sure what can happen besides telling the doctor himself. I would hope that at the very least, he would give them a run down on how to screen calls and when to contact him.

It seems that doctors are assigning the MAs to triage, so to speak. To be honest, (and I speak as an LPN), I am not sure if even Practical Nurses should be triaging because it falls under assessment, which is the function and scope of practice of the RN.

[MsAng]

I am currently a student in the middle of a BSN program. I have a "friend" who introduced herself to me as being a nurse. I proceeded to ask her if she was an RN, to which she replied, "yep, I'm an RN." After about a year I have recently figured out she is not an RN, but she is an MA. I don't doubt how invaluable MA's can be, however, in this instance I find it incredibly insulting to pose as an RN especially as I'm spending a huge amount of time, money and hard work to become a real RN.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

i think the point of reporting to the BON is that someone was representing themselves as a nurse, which is of conern to the BON,,,,not the actions, but the claim......

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

i think the point of reporting to the BON is that someone was representing themselves as a nurse, which is of conern to the BON,,,,not the actions, but the claim......

That's true, but what can they really do? Slap her wrist? Fine her? Take away her certification (if she has one)? I am not being sarcastic, please believe me, morte:heartbeat...I am just saying that outside of reporting it, what would happen? I guess I am also saying that I'd sure want results of some kind after reporting this and not be frustrated.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

That's true, but what can they really do? Slap her wrist? Fine her? Take away her certification (if she has one)? I am not being sarcastic, please believe me, morte:heartbeat...I am just saying that outside of reporting it, what would happen? I guess I am also saying that I'd sure want results of some kind after reporting this and not be frustrated.

some states this is a protected term, some states not, some states only regestered nurse....in those states that it is protected, this would be prosecutable offense.....you would need to check your state laws

[ybstressed, LVN]

Ok, I have to have my two cents. First I would like to say that I am currently a medical assistant and have been for the past 6 years. There have been numerous times that I have been called a nurse by the front office staff and the doctors. In the beginning I would accept the title and go about my business, although when a patient directly asks me if I was a nurse I would say, "No, I'm a medical assistant.'" In the beginning of my career I wasn't sure what the difference was. I worked with LVN's and RN's and we did the same job. We gave the same medical advice (which was approved and signed off by the physician), administered the same inoculations, and performed the same laboratory test.

My point is.......whenever a nurse or ma gives medical advice in a office the physician ALWAYS reviews and signs off on the chart. So who is to blame in the event told above, the MA or the doctor? I would have to say both. The physician should have trained his staff properly. The MA has NOT been properly trained. If she was properly trained she would have known to either have the patient seen immediately or to give the information to the physician immediately so that he can delegate a plan of care. Most offices that I gave worked at have approved medical advice the MA's and nurses can provide. For example, every practice that I have worked at (all peds) have had a Barton Schmitt (book of medical advice that can be used as a standard protocol) that the MA or nurse must follow. If the patient does fall within any of the protocols or seems to have a serious medical issue the MA or nurse must immediately get the physician.

Now...the MA should have never claimed to be a nurse. Now, let us take a look at the big picture. When I started my career as a MA I was told that I was doing everything that nurses do. I just wouldn't have a RN behind my name. I was also told that MA's are the SAME as LVN's. As a 16 y/o fresh out of high school I believed them and working with RN's and LVN's doing same back office duties backed my belief. So some MA's might truly not understand the major differences between the two. Now that I am in nursing school I completely understand the difference and promptly correct people when I am called a nurse. I believe that some MA's only understand the surface of disease and there process, how certain medications work, etc. When I started as a MA I already had numerous college credit hours (biology, microbiology, chemistry, organic chemistry, etc) so when I took MA A&P it was obvious that it just touched the surface.

So as a MA, we must understand why nurses are upset. We are claiming to be nurses when we don't have the education or the training to be one. Don't get me wrong, we are very vital to the medical field but we should not claim to be a nurse.