Am I the only one who resents the "nurse impersonators" who abound in the health care field?
Everyone who works at a doctor's office or in a hospital wears scrubs and seems to pass themselves off as a nurse. Of course, the hospital doesn't mind. Visitors and patients don't realize how few nurses are actually on the unit if the unit clerks, nursing assistants, housekeepers, and technicians are all wearing scrubs.
It seems harmless enough, this generic flowered jacketed scrub outfit, until you think of the harm it does to nurses' reputation as a whole. I just wonder what people think when they see two or three "nurses" ambling around the hallways or sitting at the nurses station while their family member waits for pain medication!
I have to think the doctor's offices are the worst. The doctors will actually refer to the medical assistant as "the nurse". I wonder if a doctor would appreciate an employee passing himself off as a doctor?
Last month I was in a doctor's waiting room with my son when a man came in holding his hand wrapped in a towel. He announced that he'd cut his hand and needed to see the doctor ( ok- dont ask me why he didn't go to the ER!) . The "nurse" told him to have a seat. The waiting room was crowded and it was obvious he was in for a very long wait. I saw the towel becoming saturated, and I couldn't help going over to him and telling him to hold his hand above heart level, apply pressure, try some deep breathing, etc. I told the "nurse" to let him go in and be seen, but she said, "He has to wait his turn, it wouldnt be fair to the patients who had appointments."
Driving home, my son asked, "Why didn't that nurse help that man?" I told him, "Because she's not a nurse!" But I wonder how many people in that waiting room went home with the story of the nurse who wouldnt help a bleeding man.
I know nurses don't want to go back to the days of wearing caps (even though I love my cap), but shouldn't we be more concerned about people in scrubs making us look bad? Shouldn't a nurse on duty be as easily recognizable as an EMT, a Firefighters, or a Police Officer?
In our med-surg unit, the RN's and LPN's wear white pants/skirts and the CNA's and ward clerks wear all color. We are pretty fortunate in our unit that MOST of the CNA's do not to try and push themselves off as nurses. There is one or two CNA's that have overstepped their boundaries that we had to call on the carpet. The other CNA's I work with are great about reporting to me the slightest change in a pt's condition or anything else they think needs to be brought to the nurse's attention. I actually had on CNA one time find a lump in elderly lady's breast. She was giving this pt her bath and she asked me if I could come and check something out. Sure enough, there was a golf ball sized lump in the outer aspect of the breast and it was a malignancy. I would probably never would have caught that.
As for the doctor's offices, I make sure I know who I am dealing with from the start. My family practice doc only has LPN's and RN's working his front office. His MA works in the back with the computer and billing and insurance and stuff. She used to work up front and was the person who usually answered the phone. I would just tell her right up front that I wanted to talk to a nurse. She didn't appreciate it much, but she would usually try and dictate appointments for you. It is a lot easier to schedule an appointment now.
Speaking of dress codes, our housekeepers wear dark blue cover coats and jeans. They usually don't get mistaken for nurses, thank goodness!!
MA's SHOULD do time for giving the wrong drug. in fact they should do time for giving ANY DRUG.
you wanna dispense meds-be a nurse.
this post certainly has gotten out of hand. i agree with suz..its not about comparing nurses to CNA's or MA's, or resp techs...its about saying you are a nurse when you are not.
Ok NOW this has gotten out of hand. Yes deary we do drug calculations and dispense the meds and yes its 100% legal. Dont belive me? Then check out the AAMA ..
I am currently taking my req. for nursing at a local community college. They also offer AAS in MA, which is actually longer than the LPN program. Here is the info & a list of the req. classes.....(I hope it show up)
MEDICAL ASSISTANT TECHNOLOGY
A.A.S. Degree (Owens, Terry, Wilmington Campuses)
The Medical Assistant is a multiskilled professional who works with other members of the health care team performing both clinical duties (assisting with patient care) and administrative duties (performing medical office duties).
Graduates of the program may be employed in physicians' offices, hospitals, and other health care facilities. The program consists of course work in the following: keyboarding, medical transcription, business and computer applications for the medical office, insurance coding, phlebotomy, routine diagnostic testing, performing electrocardiograms, obtaining vital signs, and assisting the physician in clinical procedures. In addition to course work and laboratory experiences on campus, students are required to complete a supervised internship in a medical facility. Course work completed to fulfill requirements for the diploma can be applied towards the A.A.S. degree in Medical Assistant Technology.
My MA program was 12 months long and then I had a 360 hour externship. The following is the classes I took some programs last up to two years with a AA degree in Medical Assisting or four years with a Bachlors in Medical Assisting.. You can get your C-MA or R-MA as well .. Class was every day 4 hours a day
Patient Care and Communication
Clinical Assting and Pharmacology
Medical Insurnace Bookkeeping and Health Sciences
CardioPulmonary and Electrocardiography
Labratory Procedures
Endocrinology and Reproduction
Theraputic Care
Emergeny/Triage Care
Survey of Human Anatomy and Physiology
Minor Surgical Procedures - (Assisting with)
Medical Terminology for Health Care Workers
Legal and Ethical Isues
Decision Making in the Health Care Setting
Second-year students are offered electives in advanced phlebotomy and ophthalmology to assist them in becoming eligible to sit for two additional national certification exams: certified phlebotomist (CLPlb) and certified ophthalmic assistant (COA)
Clinical duties vary according to state law. They include taking and recording vital signs and medical histories, patient education and instruction, preparing patients for and assisting during the examination and minor surgery. Medical assistants administer diagnostic tests, collect and prepare laboratory specimens and may perform laboratory tests on the premises, dispose of contaminated supplies, and sterilize medical instruments. They instruct patients about medication and special diets, prepare and administer medications , authorize drug refills as directed, telephone prescriptions to a pharmacy, draw blood, and prepare patients for x-rays, take EKGs, remove sutures and change dressings.
Jessy, bottom line is you are not a nurse. Until you are licensed as one you cannot legally call yourself one. I do know what you must go through to get certified as an MA. It is Not a license. I have been where you are there is a big diffrence between a nurse and a CMA. Your state is an exception (I suspect it is California) You will find getting your LVN by this route is not recogonized by any other state. i. e. there will be no resiprosity. Where there will be for other LVNs from your state, if they go out of state. There is a reason for this.
So ya.. Please dont think its a 3 month program with no hands on experience etc. Its pretty much a new profession but everywhere I go they are hiring MA's.. the pay is high, hours long and just like RN's we get stressed.
What sucks is I came to this site to hopefully meet a lot of people in the same industry as myself.. I guess I will go find another message board.. I have never been put down like I was. Im sorry but everybody does there best out there and i never called myself a nurse. although my boss refers to me as one i dont use that term for myself. I work hard. I went to school and i have a great paying carear. nothing wrong with that.
and now i feel if i post on any other thread etc you all are going to come down on me for not being a "nurse" or call me a impostor etc. this is not the kind of comunity i want
Am I the only one who resents the "nurse impersonators" who abound in the health care field? 
deespoohbear
992 Posts
In our med-surg unit, the RN's and LPN's wear white pants/skirts and the CNA's and ward clerks wear all color. We are pretty fortunate in our unit that MOST of the CNA's do not to try and push themselves off as nurses. There is one or two CNA's that have overstepped their boundaries that we had to call on the carpet. The other CNA's I work with are great about reporting to me the slightest change in a pt's condition or anything else they think needs to be brought to the nurse's attention. I actually had on CNA one time find a lump in elderly lady's breast. She was giving this pt her bath and she asked me if I could come and check something out. Sure enough, there was a golf ball sized lump in the outer aspect of the breast and it was a malignancy. I would probably never would have caught that.
As for the doctor's offices, I make sure I know who I am dealing with from the start. My family practice doc only has LPN's and RN's working his front office. His MA works in the back with the computer and billing and insurance and stuff. She used to work up front and was the person who usually answered the phone. I would just tell her right up front that I wanted to talk to a nurse. She didn't appreciate it much, but she would usually try and dictate appointments for you. It is a lot easier to schedule an appointment now.
Speaking of dress codes, our housekeepers wear dark blue cover coats and jeans. They usually don't get mistaken for nurses, thank goodness!!