Clinicals

[Lisa, MA]

I have been a Medical Assistant for the past 24 years. Since graduation, I have worked primarily in Pediatrics.

At this point in my life (41 years old) my husband is ill and currently undergoing Chemo. If he survives this or if he doesn't, I am going to have to take on the role of primary wage earner.

That said, I have decided to return to school to further my career. For many years now I have worked closely with diabetic children. So I have decided that I would like to become a Diabetes Educator. This requires me to get a masters in either nursing or some other health related discipline.

I know I could breeze through the RN program. My problem is....I just don't look forward to clinicals. I am beyond the "hands on" desire I once had in my younger years. Being brutally honest here, I am very anxious about having to clean up bodily fluids and do catheters and phleb etc. It not something I am interested in anymore.

So without sounding haughty, since my goal is to go beyond physical nursing....how involved must I get in clinicals? Is there any way to bypass this? Are there programs that will allow me to get my RN from an administrative viewpoint?

If not....what exactly should I expect from clinicals? How much "hands on" does it require? Can I be a quiet observer rather than actually performing?

Thank you for your responses.

[shoegalRN, RN]

I don't think you can "breeze though" a nursing program, especially without having to do clinicals.

You simply can not equate being a MA to being a RN. You can't. Those are two different things entirely and just because you've been a MA for 24 years don't mean you can breeze your way through nursing school.

I don't know how you think you can become a nurse and not have to touch one pt, do one IV, insert one foley, or NG tube, or rectal tube for that matter. How can you become a nurse and not know the basis of nursing, which is something you learn in clinicals?

Maybe as a MA you may have done IM injections or drew blood, but trust me, it's more to being an RN than blood draws and IM injections.

Maybe you should look into going into education. Just my opinion.

[RNperdiem, RN]

I'm sorry about the difficult situation you find yourself in.

Your heart is not in nursing. I can hear it in your post. Nursing is not for the half-hearted. It takes drive and determination just to get accepted into school.

Making good money as a breadwinner is a worthy goal, and there are many other choices outside nursing to do so.

[jlcole45]

As I stated in my earlier post that this struck a nerve. I can't tell you all how many times

I have run in to MAs passing themselves off as nurses in a physican's office setting. And the majority of people who visit these office's have no clue that they are not nurses.

I've seen the same thing in in nursing homes with the med techs - some how they get what I call the Nurse complex - once they finish the training. Now they think the can solve every problem and answer every question the pt or family has. Big problem is they lack the training and education to do any of it, including passing the meds - in my opinion.

[jlcole45]

OH by the way to the OP and any other MAs out there. You can not under any circumstances

call your self a 'nurse.' It is illegal. The title nurse if reserved for those who have graduated from approved programs and then successfully passed their state licensing exam. The practice and title are protected by law - it's called a Title Act and a Practice Act.

[capatee]

No disrespect, but I am a student in my last year of Nursing school. To get to the end is worth celebrating. I have worked four long years to obtain a BSN, and in May this will be my reality. Nursing school is not a breeze through profession or further more educational program you can slide through with out ups and downs. Medical Assistants learn how to work up a patient (taking bp, temp, etc and possibly having an idea of some of the disease processes but an RN is taught to critically think about what is presented and what information is not visibly there. Oh yeah assesessment that is the most important skill to learn as an RN. MA's don't assess, not even LPN's are able to assess and that is textbook. So, in order to possess the skills needed to be a knowledgeable and a safe healthcare professional you have to go through clinical. My school started clinicals in the first semester and that's why my school is top ranked in Georgia, because when the students graduate and get their first jobs they are confident and knowledgeable. Nursing is not the profession for you, we need individuals who are passionate about taking care of their patients. That means changing, emotional support, feeding, and educating the patient. Just because you've been a MA that doesn't not give you "special" permission to by pass what every other nurse worked long and hard to achieve to be where they are today. So do us a favor MA choose something else!

[llg, PhD, RN]

I hate to say it ... but not all nursing schools require the same amount of "clinical care." The OP might find a program that suits her if she thoroughly investigates the particular programs in her area.

Where I live, there in an Associate's Degree program offered by a for-profit school that skirts the minimum required clinicals required by the state. They spend as much time in the clinical simulation lab as possible because many of the local hospitals don't want to give them clinical time with real patients. They also do a lot of clinicals in outpatient settings wehre there is less need for "yucky" work. When they are on the actual hospital units, they do as much observing as doing because their students and faculty are less trusted than those from some of the other schools. So ... yes ... people who attend that school spend a lot less time "getting their hands dirty" than students from other schools.

There is also Excelsior -- the distance education program that is still accepted in many states. They accept students with health care backgrounds and count those "other clinical hours" from the student's previous education as sufficient. The OP might have to take some other health care program to qualify for admittance into Excelsior ... but the clinicals of that other program might be more appealing to her because they might involve less poop and/or might involve lots of learning lab stuff. (See the description of the other program in the above paragraph.)

Yes, her post was offensive to many nurses ... but I am choosing to let the rest of the posters express their anger over her political blunder. I thought someone should simply answer her question.

While you can't totally avoid experiencing some 'hands on" care in the process of getting a nursing degree ... there is a great deal of variation in the amount and type of clinical experience incorporated into different programs. Look closely at each program available to you and you might find one that suits you. However, because the OP is not a nurse at heart, she might find a better fit in another discipline -- such as "health education" or "nutrition."

[CFitzRN, ADN]

I really don't get all the up-in-arms posts here. She never said her years as an MA made her equal to an RN. She said it would help her in school, and it most certainly WILL. I wish I'd had that background when I was in nursing school - it would have made it a LOT easier. I don't think I would have "breezed through" though, and that expression probably wasn't the best choice of words. However, OP, if you do want to be a diabetes educator I do think you will have to do an RN to MSN type of thing, which would require nursing school, which would require clinicals. I fear that your desire to "avoid" hands-on clinicals would make them almost insufferable for you. I know what you're saying and I totally understand your point of view here. You have a goal that doesn't include bedside nursing so you want to find a way to do it without going through all the clinicals. Unfortunately I don't think there is a way. And truth be told, a really good diabetes educator needs to really understand the systems of the body and how they all work in symbiosis. Diabetes is such a complex and all-encompassing disease that going through nursing school and learning all the complexities of all the body systems is really necessary. So if that's what you really want to do, get your pre-reqs in, kick butt on them so you will be accepted into a nursing program, and go through nursing school. See it as a wonderful opportunity to really learn, in-depth, the systems of the body. You will get far more education on that than you have gotten as an MA. So don't falsely expect it to be a breeze. And that NCLEX-RN - holy frijole - I graduated with honors and found it to be really tough. I passed with 75 questions but I still don't know how, haha! You sound like an intelligent person though - you can do it. Approach your clinicals with an open mind - learn everything you can - jump in and try everything you can - and you will enjoy them. If you dread going every time, they will be horrible. It's all a matter of attitude. If you can feel positive and excited about all you will learn in clinicals, they will be very cool.

I'm really sorry you're having to deal with such a scary scenario with regard to your husband's illness. I can tell you feel like your back's a little against the wall and I can understand that, but there's just no easy way; no short-cuts as it were. I do wish you the very best! And by the way, I started nursing school at 42. It can be done!

[cookienay]

Holy clinicals, Batman!!

Wow. I did not get the impression that the OP feels that her years as an MA made her equal to an RN. I did get the impression that she is confident in her ability to be successful in an RN program. Nothing wrong with that, I sorta felt the same way when I started.

While her wording has obviously struck a nerve, perhaps we are jumping the gun on condemning her? Just asking is all.

To the OP, when you are licensed as an RN in a state, that means you are expected to perform at a level consistent with the standards of care. That includes clinical skills. Any nursing school that forgoes clinical time is one to be wary of, IMO. Best wishes to you and your family.

[DogWmn]

First, my thoughts to you and your family during your difficult times.

Second, I have been an LPN for over 19 years now and a lot of that time was in a clinic setting both Family Practice and Pediatrics. I have worked with MA's and their education is not the same as a nurses nor do they have a license to practice.

I do understand your desire to stay away from bedside nursing, I love clinic nursing and would not want to return to the bedside. There are plenty of alternatives in health care, for example, Clinical Lab Tech that could lead to working with diabetics comes to mind. You can continue on and get a BS part time and a Clincal Laboratory Technologist will make similar $$$ to an RN and you clinicals will be in a Lab during school for the most part. There is also the opportunity to work in clinical trials, education etc. Don't get hung up on just one facet of nursing i.e. Diabetic Educator, there are lots of alternatives in the medical field that need people.

Talk with someone in the field your looking to work in and see what all your options are. The media has been hyping and glamming up nursing way too much. From my stand point nursing should be a "calling" of a sort and not just a way to make a living. You will see many threads in this forum about the stress and problems working as a nurse, look at all your alternatives before you decide on your career choice.

Again, my best to you and your family during such a stressful time.

[youngdawg]

I'm currently in nursing school and i don't think it's what anybody could breeze through even with a medical degree not to talk of a medical assistant. hmmm just take that thought out of your head

[jlcole45]

To llg,

Why in God's name are you providing her and every other nurse wanta bes with that information that it is OK to go to a substandard nursing school and skirt by on clinical time?

Where is your loyalty to our profession?

To the OP, I am sorry I jumped on you. But I've had a few personal and recent run ins with MA's acting like they know it all and one of which had a bad patient outcome.

Sit down and really think about what you want to do with your career. One thing I will recommend is to go shadow an RN in an acute care setting for a week. Work the whole shift and see if it is something you can or want to do. I will tell you there is no easy or fast way to do any of this. You must be committed and want to do it because nursing school is hard.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

OK, OK, OK....

I feel from reading the OP's thread, that she is faced with needing to increase income (and fast) due to a personal situation that she is trying to face proactively. She, (like a lot of people who try to move into nursing from other healthcare areas) is making the BIG mistake of thinking she (just) needs that RN to put on her resume and the job is hers. This is why she is trying to cut down the educational commitment. Unfortunately nursing education requires "all in". She should figure that the position of dialysis educator looks nice to plenty of nurses with dialysis hands on experience too!! Faced with this competition, she does not have a chance in the world, without working as an RN clinically in dialysis first, IMHO.

Now I need to say, that I am sorry all this is blowing up in your face OP :redpinkhe. All you are really doing right now is throwing yourself into walls. I understand your urgency. Just consider that your nursing education will be a huge commitment of time away from your family life. This is set in stone.