Doctor's office and "nurses"

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Just a little rant... was wondering if anyone else has experienced this...

Called my doctor's office to see if I could get something called out for a returning ear infection. They transferred me to the "nurse." Long story short, this person is not a LVN or a RN, they are a medical assistant.

Does this bother anyone else?

Isn't this a little shady, calling people nurses who aren't?

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Nurses do a lot of teaching. Teaching your friends/family to ask staff what their title is/do they have a license or asking for clarification can help staff to represent themselves accurately. If I have to call a doctor's office, I'm going to ask who I'm talking to. A simple "are you a licensed nurse or a MA/CNA?" is all it takes. If you find staff that are NOT representing themselves accurately, that is a (potentially embarrassing but effective) way to call them on their true job title. I also think it's appropiate to let the doctor know if his/her staff is misrepresenting itself.

You are correct, but unfortunately, most of the physicians introduce these people as 'the nurse', which perpetuates this situation.

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Specializes in Paramedic.
You are correct, but unfortunately, most of the physicians introduce these people as 'the nurse', which perpetuates this situation.

^ I was just about to post this. It's on the recording of the automated menu when you call, I'm sure he has to know about it.

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Yes, doctors may allow or even encourage their staff to misrepresent itself. They should be called on that as well. Not always feasible, I know. Not always going to change things, either.

Ultimately, it's that MA calling him/herself a "nurse" that needs to be corrected. They can't control what their doctor/employer calls them but they can control how they represent themselves.

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I am an LPN working for my RN. There are a few medical assistants that I would trust my life with more than an RN with no experience. It is not about the peice of paper that you get, it to me is more about the experience that you get, how much you learn, and see the same things over and over again. Does that make sense? We are all in the field of helping other people, can't we just all get along? And I am talking cena's, nurse's, respiratory therapists, pharmacist's, Doctor's, Medical assistant's. Just like Rodney King said, "can't we just all get along?"

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Of course we can all get along. Getting along doesn't mean that it's ok for someone who is not a licensed nurse to tell people they are, however.

And I disagree that it's not about "that piece of paper that you get". That "piece of paper" aka a license not only means you have earned the right to call yourself a licensed nurse, it proves you have a level of education that allows you a larger scope of practice than a CNA or a MA. You may not have experience yet but even new nurses know things that experienced MAs or CNAs don't. And vice versa.

The job duties/scope of practice are different among the various healthcare positions with NO implication that one is better than another. A MA passing him/herself off as a licensed nurse, however, does make the implication, IMO, that nurses are better somehow or more important. Otherwise, why would they do it? That's what I really don't get. If you're a MA/CNA/CMA, why would you tell people you're a nurse? Is there something embarrassing about that? I can't see that there is and I can't see why people do it.

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Oh stunt, you just wanted to stir things up, didn't you? :wink2:

Well, I have an idea... how bout just asking if you could speak with a Nurse and NOT a Medical Assistant? Why not just ask what their actual title is? It's just that everyone clumps all clinical personnel into one group called "The Nurses".

That's it... long story short. It's not right, but that's the way it is.

Perhaps instead of all this hostility we could come up with some positive way to make a change! Hmm? Anybody? Maybe? Seriously! I vow, right here, to start correcting anyone who refers to me as a nurse. Actually, I made a huge issue of this not too long ago in the office and I was met with groans and rolled eyes. And that was from the doctors AND the nurses! But I will give it a go again and remind the LVN's and RN's how offended they should be when someone mistakenly refers to me as a "nurse".

And a big hearty THANK YOU! to those of you who stated you've met some wonderful MA's. I happen to be one of them and I'm pretty proud of it!

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Specializes in Med Surg, LTC, Home Health.

In my city, becoming a Medical Assistant takes 1 year, whereas becoming a CNA takes 4 weeks. Their is nothing similar about their training, so they should not be lumped into the same category. :twocents:

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Specializes in Emergency, LTC, Med/Surg.

In the clinic that my mother manages, they refer to the LPN's and MA's as a collective Clinical Assistant. I have approached my mother regarding the inappropriatness of this title, however she does not seem to care about the message of disrespect it sends to both the LPN's and MA's.

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A friend of my who is an LPN saw an ad for Clinical Assistant at a doctor's office. When she called to find out about it, she was told "you know, LPN CNA or MA" Apparently they didn't care.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I blame it on the doctors. They are too cheap to pay for a real nurse so they'll happily pay someone without a license $10 an hour and happily refer to them as nurses, which only serves to inflate the ego's of the non-licensed persons and their belief that they are a nurse.

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I blame it on the doctors. They are too cheap to pay for a real nurse so they'll happily pay someone without a license $10 an hour and happily refer to them as nurses, which only serves to inflate the ego's of the non-licensed persons and their belief that they are a nurse.

"Inflate the egos of non-licensed persons"?? So tell me, does the ego come with the license?

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I blame it on the doctors. They are too cheap to pay for a real nurse so they'll happily pay someone without a license $10 an hour and happily refer to them as nurses, which only serves to inflate the ego's of the non-licensed persons and their belief that they are a nurse.

Does the ego deflate when they open their paycheck? :eek::chuckle

ps.. no offense to anyone that is a MA - :clown:

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