Are MAs licensed/certified? Can a graduate of a nursing program work as one?

[wish_me_luck, BSN, RN]

Hey,

I have graduated from nursing school and I am not licensed yet. There might be a possibility of denial (see my other thread under nurses with disabilities); but I am thinking I could be a medical assistant until I am able to get licensed if at all. That way I am not totally out of the loop. I just don't know much about them as far as if they are certified or licensed or anything that would require a process like I am going through right now with the RN license.

[OCNRN63, RN]

​you could probably work as an ma, but you couldn't call yourself a cma without going through the cma course.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

you need to contac the agency/board that certifies. If you do not know who that is (probably the Health Dept) then call an agency that uses them and ask.

[tiredstudentmom]

AAMA and AMT offer the Certification/Registrations. There is a test you have to take, usually around $100, however, I would contact them about the qualifications needed to sit for that exam. It's been about 8 yrs since I sat for the AMT/RMA exam, though, so my numbers may be off! Good luck! :hug:

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Some medical assistants are certified, and others are registered. However, certification and registration are not mandatory. In fact, they are purely optional, and more than a few MAs have secured employment without any formal training whatsoever.

[KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN]

Many of the MA ads I see require years of experience..sorta makes it hard for those who don't get a job where they did their externship. Maybe you could consider looking at unit clerk/secretary jobs?

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Many of the MA ads I see require years of experience..sorta makes it hard for those who don't get a job where they did their externship. Maybe you could consider looking at unit clerk/secretary jobs?

Ironic, that I was just about to post that most of the MA spots I've seen DON'T require ANY experience....just the ability to learn how to take a blood pressure, weigh someone and fill out forms for/with the patients. In other words, no actual skill required. Which makes me think a newly-graduated nursing student would be snapped up--UNLESS the person interviewing figures it doesn't make sense to hire someone who will quit the minute she passes the NCLEX.

[Asystole RN]

Ironic, that I was just about to post that most of the MA spots I've seen DON'T require ANY experience....just the ability to learn how to take a blood pressure, weigh someone and fill out forms for/with the patients. In other words, no actual skill required. Which makes me think a newly-graduated nursing student would be snapped up--UNLESS the person interviewing figures it doesn't make sense to hire someone who will quit the minute she passes the NCLEX.

Something tells me that there is a high degree of regional variation, especially considering that different states have very different views on what a MA actually is.

[KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN]

Something tells me that there is a high degree of regional variation, especially considering that different states have very different views on what a MA actually is.

Yeah, I agree. Here in the DC metro area, it seems like most of the MA ads I see ask for 2+ yrs experience. And many of them want you to be bilingual too. But I never recall them asking the MA's to be "certified" or "registered".

[merlee]

You tread in very deep water if you do anything requiring direct patient care, and that position is below the one you are trained for. You are held to the highest standard you are educated for. I would take a unit sec'y job, no patient care, before I would accept an MA or CNA position.

Be very careful.

[carrie_c]

Depends on what state you are in. I live in TN and anyone can be an MA, a doctor can hire someone off the street to do it with no education at all.

[SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS]

An MD's office would probably be very happy to have someone trained to be a nurse work as an MA, so that they could pay you an MA salary. Keep in mind that MA is skills-based. You would be expected to have a certain skill set, like phlebotomy, and running the tests that they do (nasopharyngeal swabs, rapid strep, tympanograms) and such, and give a lot of immunizations. Nothing you can't easily learn if you made it through an RN program, but stuff they might expect you to already know, besides the obvious vital signs and weights.

MAs don't use anything like the nursing process. They don't assess, diagnose, implement, evaluate. Basically, they do things. I'm not trying to downplay what they do- a busy office can be hectic.