I need help and a little info...

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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Hi! Im new here :D so bre with me. Well i am considering going to school to become a medical asistant. I was just wondering if someone could give me job discription and some information regarding this career. I have a few questions like..is going through the education in school difficult? Like the tests..hw..etc. Also, are tattoos and piercings acceptable? I have 1 noticeable tattoo which is on my forearm..and i also have a few piercings..i am a little nervous..well..alot..about all this i hope everything goes smoothly and i can find a decent job at a clinic whenever i graduate. I rather work at a clinic/ physicians office...i feel like it would be a better place to work at since you will see most of the poeple that go there more than once so that makes it a little more comfortable since youll have an idea of why theyre going and about medications they take..etc. I hope evrything is as i imagine it.

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Specializes in Cardiology and ER Nursing.

Might want to look for a forum dedicated to Medical Assisting.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.
Hi! Im new here :D so bre with me. Well i am considering going to school to become a medical asistant. I was just wondering if someone could give me job discription and some information regarding this career. I have a few questions like..is going through the education in school difficult? Like the tests..hw..etc. Also, are tattoos and piercings acceptable? I have 1 noticeable tattoo which is on my forearm..and i also have a few piercings..i am a little nervous..well..alot..about all this i hope everything goes smoothly and i can find a decent job at a clinic whenever i graduate. I rather work at a clinic/ physicians office...i feel like it would be a better place to work at since you will see most of the poeple that go there more than once so that makes it a little more comfortable since youll have an idea of why theyre going and about medications they take..etc. I hope evrything is as i imagine it.

http://nursingassistantguides.com/are-nursing-assisting-cna-and-medical-assisting-the-same-thing/

Most medical assistants work in doctor's offices. They take vital signs, height and weight, and answer phones. Here's a description:

http://www.medicalassistants.net/job-description/

If it were me, I would prefer to go for my Nursing Assistant (CNA) certification. As a CNA, you have the ability to work in more settings including hospital floors, nursing homes, where the jobs are more plentiful (I would strongly recommend doing a monster.com job search in your area for both medical assistants and nursing assistants and get a feel for which is higher in demand). That being said, a CNA busts their butt, because they are doing a lot of strenuous physical labor, including lifting patients, changing incontinent patients, feeding them, walking with them, toileting, etc. And to be honest, I don't know if they're paid any better than medical assistants. However, if you ever wanted to go to school to be a nurse or other medical professional, it may behoove you to get a job in a hospital setting (where most nurses desire to work), which would require you get a CNA versus medical assistant certification.

Regarding piercings, it varies from facility to facility, but most likely you will be asked to remove any body or facial piercings and leave on only one set of modest earrings. This is pretty standard for most workplaces I've worked for (and I've worked for a bunch). Regarding tatoos, it also varies, and it may depend on what the tatoo is. In one workplace, I know a person who was required to wear a stretchy band around his arm to cover his tatoo. It looked cool actually.

My final thought - since you are in the mode of considering a change in career, why not consider nursing? Most starting nursing salaries are double what a medical assistant/CNA will ever make. I would strongly encourage you to look at community colleges in your area that offer nursing programs and look into it. You don't even have to work at a hospital; I know a few new grads who started out in doctors' offices. Nursing school is much more rigorous than medical assistant training, but it is very rewarding. Other medical career paths that many community colleges offer include Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), surgical technologists and radiology technicians. They typically make more money than medical assistants as well. And you could always go for a four-year bachelor's degree in nursing or even get your masters and become a physician's assistant! Look at all your options and aim high. Good luck with whatever you choose.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, & ED.

Have you considered phlebotomy? It's an upgrade in position and pays more; also, you can do it at a quicker pase and cost less as far as tuition goes. I did it through nursing school , I worked part time. It payer my bills and got me through school. Good luck!!!

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Specializes in n/a.

I took a CMA course years ago, but I now work as a CNA. (took a different class) There were a few CMAs in my CNA class because they just couldn't find work as a medical assistant. I definetely agree that you should do a monster.com or careerbuilder.com search to find out what the market looks like.

As for tattoos, from my experience you may just have to cover it up. It depends on how noticeable it is and where it is located. I've seen a lot of people who just wear long sleeves shirts under their scrubs. That's not always a bad idea anyway, because in healthcare the temperature tends to be freezing lol. For piercings, if they require you to remove them, you can probably just get a spacer if you're worried about it growing up. Most facilities are more on the conservative side just because they don't want to offend their patients.

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Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

Medical Assisting is a dead end road unless thats all you ever want to do. You can always move up in nursing. There are so many more options because of the numerous areas of nursing.

Some places are ok with piercings and tattoos, others aren't. I'd say the majority aren't ok with the obvious ones. Some people choose to wear long sleeves year-round under their scrubs because of the choose they made to have tattoos.

I would also work on spelling. If you misspell a medication, you could be writing an entirely different medication. Med errors are a big deal!

Good luck.

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