As nurses do you see the need for medical assistants?

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I have been wondering this for a while, do nurses need medical assistants? Do nurses need assistants at all? Do you feel that some careers in the medical field are just wannabe nurses? Whats you take and how do you feel, honestly.:p

i dont think anyone here is saying ma are not a part of the team and that they are not needed and trained. my problem is that of bounderies. there is no clear line for ma (as in here is what they can and cannot do). i often find ma doing things they should not that could harm people. here is my problem with the profession, not with the professional ma who know what they are able and trained to do. i am glad you like being an ma and think its is a respectful job to have, i think that laws need to be in place that control their practice more.

ohh no no no! i don't enjoy being an ma at all-lol!!! it's not a respectable job. just like another poster said-we are often taken advantage of and treated ill by our md's and sometimes even patients.

i didn't make a generalization with all nurses despising ma's-only that some seemed too. this isnt the first nor second nor 3rd post i've seen like this-which with all honesty can come off as ma bashing....but i do understand what's being said about scope of practice and so on.

the original post question just seems to say it all-what use are we-kwim? perhaps i should re-read it.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.
If the MA board approves this in their state, then yes they can do it. Are they taught to look for "off" dosages and such, yes. In which case a good MA would ask the doc first. As a licensed individual in healthcare, would you not do the same?

Thank you for that feedback.

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Specializes in psychiatry.

Thank you! I told a friend I was thinking of nursing school, and her advice to me was to become a CNA first to make sure nursing would make sense for me. I am so glad I did! I have a much more realistic picture of what nursing will entail after graduation than most of my classmates.

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Specializes in IM/Critical Care/Cardiology.

You did the right thing by asking for the doc, and I hope you told him/her why.

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Specializes in IM/Critical Care/Cardiology.
This is exactly how I feel the MA role should be utilized.

May I add that this person is capable of differentiating between a nl vs abn VS.

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i could never do a nurse's job because i don't have the schooling nor the experience-so with that said i don't believe anyone has to worry about an ma, who is usually only trained for 9 months to a year, eradicating rn's.

it's just like what another poster said-there's enough room at the table for all sub levels of health care-i believe it's called allied health...but then again i'm just a lowly medical assistant, so what do i know?:rolleyes:

actually, i'm impressed that some ma's have 9 months to a year's training. that's all the time it took for my husband to become a lpn.

at my hospital, the only training for the ma's is "on the job". there is no formal training program required.

usually, it's the receptionist that calls prescriptions in to the pharmacy and informs patients of their test results. also, at the offices that do have a rn/lpn, the doc is still the only one allowed to explain abnormal results and new diagnoses to patients.

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i didn't make a generalization with all nurses despising ma's-only that some seemed too. this isnt the first nor second nor 3rd post i've seen like this-which with all honesty can come off as ma bashing....but i do understand what's being said about scope of practice and so on.

the original post question just seems to say it all-what use are we-kwim? perhaps i should re-read it.

i don't think you're imagining anything. i always check out any posts regarding cna's/ma's because i spent years as a ma and then became a nurse tech before deciding to go to ns. there are a lot of posters that don't seem to think very much of those professions.

can you imagine the outcry if a rn made a post about lpn's being unneccesary, scary to work with, wouldn't want them working on their family, are constantly overstepping their bounds?

i've come to realize that there are insecure people in every sector of employment.

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Specializes in Nursing Ed, Ob/GYN, AD, LTC, Rehab.
I don't think you're imagining anything. I always check out any posts regarding CNA's/MA's because I spent years as a MA and then became a nurse tech before deciding to go to NS. There are a lot of posters that don't seem to think very much of those professions.

Can you imagine the outcry if a RN made a post about LPN's being unneccesary, scary to work with, wouldn't want them working on their family, are constantly overstepping their bounds?

I've come to realize that there are insecure people in every sector of employment.

I am not insecure and do have safety issues with MA. Unlike LPN RN and CNA who have standardized test, are held accountable by state reporting that is attached to a license or certificate many MA lack this. There is on the job training and schools vary across the board. This is what I find scary about them.

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I do have a problem in that the doctor can pull the receptionist in the room and pass them off as a MA. I find that to be an invasion of my privacy and this does happen. I would prefer medical personnel to go through standardized testing and/or certification/licensing.

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i don't think you're imagining anything. i always check out any posts regarding cna's/ma's because i spent years as a ma and then became a nurse tech before deciding to go to ns. there are a lot of posters that don't seem to think very much of those professions.

can you imagine the outcry if a rn made a post about lpn's being unneccesary, scary to work with, wouldn't want them working on their family, are constantly overstepping their bounds?

i've come to realize that there are insecure people in every sector of employment.

i'm glad to see that someone shares my same sentiment.

i was actually once threatened to be fired because the doctor would refer to me as 'the nurse' and i would go in after him and purposely say"hi, how are you today? i'm jane doe the medical assistant." i personally don't like to be threatened nor bullied so i said that i wouldn't work like this and gave my notice effective immediately and when the doc saw that i wasn't fazed-promptly took me into his office to 'talk this over' and explain to me that patients get untrusting and uptight when anything but nurse is said....things like this still happen. so i can't imagine what other ma's have to do to keep their jobs just so the doc won't have to get up off his duff to answer questions or give shots or take blood.

it isnt excusable what some ma's do-not in the least-but it's the doctors at times that are pushing them to say it. that particular employer after that made sure to introduce me as his medical assistant and after some years, those that didn't like it were told that if they felt uncomfortable he'd be happy to make copies of their records so that they could find another physician because i was fully skilled and trained to take vitals and perform phlebotomy (he said this to the relatively new patients of course:lol2:)-but still i really did appreciate that he did that.

everyone is entitled to say who they want or don't want in the exam room-no doubt about that. but until something changes, there will continue to be cheap to work, trade school trained, thousand of dollars in debt medical assistants by the hoardes working in medical offices because the 'professionals' that should be doing most of what some ma's do are worth more than what some docs are willing to pay.

my :twocents:

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