Medical Assistants???

Nurses General Nursing

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i was wondering if someone could help me please!!!! i am in nursing school right now, and hope to graduate in about a year. my cousin on the other hand went to a school in town and became a medical assistant. she got a job right out of school making $14.50 and hour! do medical assistants really make that much? i am not trying to be negative but from what i hear in my area a nurse only starts at about $18. anyone have thoughts on this? :nuke:

is it true that some schools offer 4 year bachelor degrees for MA?

My neighbor is one, but went back for a degree in accounting and is managing an office

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There is an obvious difference here in Ohio between an MA and RN income. The MA fresh out of school starts about 10-12 an hour and the RN starts about 15-17 an hour. It all depends on who you work for. I am an MA who in 1.5 years will apply my credits from my Associate degree to continue to my

RN. I love being a MA, I have been for 12 years now but there is really no advancement opportunities. You could advance to office manager but then you are getting away from hands on patient care. So if you are looking to move up on the medical ladder, you should go with getting your RN. I wouldn't recommend getting your LPN because they typically make the same or not much more than an MA and they have no opportunities for advancement either. They work mainly in LTC settings and can go to supervisor but no much more. If you are looking to make more money go for your RN, if you are looking for awesome hours, go for your MA.

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Specializes in Medical Assisting.

In GA you go to schooll for one year to be a medical Assistant. I haven't heard of a 4 year degree for medical assisting. It would most likely be a waste of someone's time. Why spend that much time to be a MA when you be an RN.

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In GA you go to schooll for one year to be a medical Assistant. I haven't heard of a 4 year degree for medical assisting. It would most likely be a waste of someone's time. Why spend that much time to be a MA when you be an RN.

very true. I have never heard of a four year program for Medical Assisting. I went for two years for my associate degree but I would never invest four years. Some people don't want to be an RN. Even though they could invest the same amount of time in an RN program as an MA program, the work is completely different once you graduate. Some people prefer not to be a nurse while others are just meant to be. I love what I do but the money really sucks:o I do plan to go back to school in a couple years to continue on to be an RN but I am a little afraid that I may not like that type of work. May I ask if you are an RN? If you are, would you mind giving me a little insight on what your responsibilities are and what I could expect to be doing if I were to become a nurse?

Thanks, Tammi.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
There is an obvious difference here in Ohio between an MA and RN income. The MA fresh out of school starts about 10-12 an hour and the RN starts about 15-17 an hour. It all depends on who you work for. I am an MA who in 1.5 years will apply my credits from my Associate degree to continue to my

RN. I love being a MA, I have been for 12 years now but there is really no advancement opportunities. You could advance to office manager but then you are getting away from hands on patient care. So if you are looking to move up on the medical ladder, you should go with getting your RN. I wouldn't recommend getting your LPN because they typically make the same or not much more than an MA and they have no opportunities for advancement either. They work mainly in LTC settings and can go to supervisor but no much more. If you are looking to make more money go for your RN, if you are looking for awesome hours, go for your MA.

I beg to differ just a bit about discouraging a person to become an LPN before becoming an RN. While it is true in some areas (not mine, though), that the salary is not much different, and advancement may be limited, however, the student will become more acclimated to the nursing process, the four areas of nursing (med-surg, peds, women's health and psych), and depending on where you live, you can work in hospitals. There are some that become an equivilant to case managers, charge nurses and such as well. Also, there are flexible hours and part time schedules, and education reimbursment. I do think that each individual has to make their best path towards nursing; for some, the MA is more advantageous, others, LPN and CNA. But, there are advantages for each path to be considered.

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I beg to differ just a bit about discouraging a person to become an LPN before becoming an RN. While it is true in some areas (not mine, though), that the salary is not much different, and advancement may be limited, however, the student will become more acclimated to the nursing process, the four areas of nursing (med-surg, peds, women's health and psych), and depending on where you live, you can work in hospitals. There are some that become an equivilant to case managers, charge nurses and such as well. Also, there are flexible hours and part time schedules, and education reimbursment. I do think that each individual has to make their best path towards nursing; for some, the MA is more advantageous, others, LPN and CNA. But, there are advantages for each path to be considered.

HI, THANKS FOR UPDATING ME ON THE VARIOUS OPPORTUNITIES OF THE LPN. I WAS NOT AWARE THERE WERE SO MANY OUTLETS FOR THIS CAREER. WHERE I LIVE IT IS REALLY HARD TO FIND JOBS AS AN LPN. THE LTC CENTERS HERE ARE, WELL, LET'S JUST SAY NOT UP TO PAR.:o AND THE HOSPITALS HERE DON'T OFFER POSITIONS FOR LPN'S. I WAS JUST SPEAKING FOR WHERE I LIVE. YOU DO HAVE A GOOD POINT ABOUT GETTING THE EDUCATION IN THE FOUR AREAS OF NURSING. THAT WOULD CERTAINLY COME IN HANDY IF YOU WERE TO MOVE ON TO YOUR RN.;)

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
HI, THANKS FOR UPDATING ME ON THE VARIOUS OPPORTUNITIES OF THE LPN. I WAS NOT AWARE THERE WERE SO MANY OUTLETS FOR THIS CAREER. WHERE I LIVE IT IS REALLY HARD TO FIND JOBS AS AN LPN. THE LTC CENTERS HERE ARE, WELL, LET'S JUST SAY NOT UP TO PAR.:o AND THE HOSPITALS HERE DON'T OFFER POSITIONS FOR LPN'S. I WAS JUST SPEAKING FOR WHERE I LIVE. YOU DO HAVE A GOOD POINT ABOUT GETTING THE EDUCATION IN THE FOUR AREAS OF NURSING. THAT WOULD CERTAINLY COME IN HANDY IF YOU WERE TO MOVE ON TO YOUR RN.;)

I am aware of the limitations of LPNs in other areas. It shocked me, actually, because I didn't have many problems since I got my license last year. I do admit that there are more limitations for positions compared to RNs, however, I have seen quite a few here in New York. We have hospitals, prisons, home care, assisted living, clinics and those working in plastic surgery for starters. I was trained as a medical assistant, and it was great...it did prepare me to become an LPN. It was more task oriented, and while they briefly went over diseases, it was not the same as for an LPN. Unfortunately, it is a competitive process to even be accepted into an LPN program, here. There are not as many schools offering the LPN programs as before.

I am on the other end of the spectrum in that I never wanted to be an RN, nor has that feeling changed now. That is basically because I don't want their responsibilities, and believe it or not, I am only interested in basic nursing to comfort and sustain life. But, I do feel like a nurse, in fact, I am. I take continuing education classes to improve my practice and for the most part, I have been accepted as a nurse by most of the RNs and others that I work with. Thus far, I worked as a hospital clinic nurse, home care and vaccination nurse since earning my license last year. I took continuing ed courses in EKG in order to do overtime in telemetry, wound care (which I will be getting together with the wound care specialist in a few weeks), and will continue to take others.

Bottom line is that we each have a highly individualized path to success. It is how we feel about ourselves in the mind and the determination to make good what is accomplished and paving the way to the goals we want to have.

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very true. I have never heard of a four year program for Medical Assisting. I went for two years for my associate degree but I would never invest four years. Some people don't want to be an RN. Even though they could invest the same amount of time in an RN program as an MA program, the work is completely different once you graduate. Some people prefer not to be a nurse while others are just meant to be. I love what I do but the money really sucks:o I do plan to go back to school in a couple years to continue on to be an RN but I am a little afraid that I may not like that type of work. May I ask if you are an RN? If you are, would you mind giving me a little insight on what your responsibilities are and what I could expect to be doing if I were to become a nurse?

Thanks, Tammi.

I realize that not everyone wants to be an RN, but an RN can do everything that an MA could do and much much more... and they will get paid more money for it so it doesn't make sense to have a 4 year degree in medical assisting. If it is out there then some college is raking in the money off some misguided individuals who will pay 30-40 grand at least to come out making 15 dollars/hour at most. :angryfire That is not fair to the students. As far as the role of the R.N. - DIfferent areas will call for the development of different skills, but the basic tenets of all registered nursing care is the assessment, direction of care, evaluation of treatment and collaboration with other healthcare professionals to improve the health of the patient/client be it a person, family, community or population. Patient teaching is also a large part of the job.

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Specializes in Medical Assisting.

I am a Medical Assistant, but currently I am pursuing my education for a RN degree. I was tired of the pay and the fact that there really isn't much opportunity to advance as a MA. I love working with patients. I've always worked back office doing a multitude of tasks and I want to continue working with patients. I also want to work in a hospital and they don't hire MA's. I am now in my first year of school getting my pre-nursing requirements.

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The pay rate is dependent on the institution. I've seen ads or job listings (where the pay rate is disclosed) where MAs are offered as much or more than LPNs. When looking for work you always have to do your homework and make an effort to find the places with the better pay and benefits, whether as an MA or LPN, or RN or any other job title for that matter. The biggest disappointment is to go to work for an employer and find out that other people working at the same job are getting more than you are and there is no obvious reason for this difference.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
My friend only makes 9 bucks a hour and she has a 9,000+ loan to pay back. She is having a hard time with such low pay and plus a loan to pay back. Also she told me that some of the MA students did not even have a high school diploma... is that true??
I completed a medical assisting program at a vocational school about 7 years ago, and a few of my classmates were not high school graduates or GED recipients. MA progams that are not regionally accredited can legally accept people who have not completed their high school educations. By the way, I was never able to use my MA certificate, because competition for jobs was so fierce.
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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

The issue is for some people is that nursing schools are highly competitive and have resorted to what I consider to be horrible practice in obtaining students. Some have lotteries, others require ridiculously high GPAs; none of these practices ensure a consciensous nurse upon the completion of the program and passing NCLEX. People who want an "in" to the medical profession and want to deal with a bit of clinical experience as well as managerial skills fall victims to this situation. There are some of those who 'settle' for being a medical assistant because they may not have been allowed to get into nursing school, and then, there are others that are in fact, really happy about what they are doing as medical assistants.

I am a bit sensitive about MAs calling themselves nurses after I completed an LPN program, but, I do not disregard them. They can and do positively contribute to patient care and better outcomes.

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