I'm sure this has been said.. MA's calling themselves Nurses

Nurses General Nursing

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So Monday I was in a system-wide orientation for my new job as an LPN. I just graduated (so technically until i take my boards and pass.. I'm a GPN). Anyway- there was a girl in our orientation that was an MA, and said she was a nurse at her Dr's office. I was a little taken a-back by this! Call me a brat but I went through a lot to get IN to nursing school, make the grades and graduate to be able to call myself a NURSE! Does this bother anyone else??

Specializes in Vascular Access Nurse.

especially with all of these commercials from career colleges showing someone in scrubs and saying you can be a nurse when in actuality they are only a med assistant or cna.

it's the only in the above sentence that makes me growl. we couldn't function very well without our cnas or mas!:mad:

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Specializes in ICU, CV, Occ Health.

It is illegal to misrepresent yourself as a nurse in Texas. I always find out the credentials of anyone I speak to who identifies themselves as a nurse. i was a surgical assistance before i was an RN and patients would refer to me as a nurse all the time. I always corrected them and let them know I was an assistant to the doctor, not a nurse. Even though I wasn't a nurse yet and didn't know the law, i thought it was wrong to declare myself something I wasn't.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
I see your point people should tell people they're something they're not BUT as far as patients they don't care who is what. to the general public everyone in scrubs is a "nurse". Just the way it is.

Is it right or wrong to assume that the "ma" in your username stands for Medical Assistant?

If so, that explains your answer.

People might assume that everyone in scrubs is a nurse (our housekeepers wear scrubs...should pts assume THEY are nurses, too?). Assuming it doesn't make it true, and that's an even BIGGER reason to correct the assumption. They may think it because they don't know any better, and therefore take anything said to them by someone in scrubs as coming from an RN, when indeed it is not.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
it's the only in the above sentence that makes me growl. we couldn't function very well without our cnas or mas!:mad:

i know what you are saying, but i don't think that's how the statement was intended. i couldn't function without the cna's i work with, but no, they are not nurses, and it's advertising falsely for these commercials to imply it.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
Offensive? Now you have an idea how physicians feel when nurses (read: DNP's) refer to themselves as "doctor".

Anyone with a doctorate degree IS a doctor. Everyone with a doctorate degree is NOT a physician.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
happens too often with mas, cnas, etc. my brother had me thinking his fiance's mom was a nurse and had given her some anxiety meds that were hers (i'm thinking why would she try to treat her daughter with meds that aren't prescribed to her?) come to find out that she was a cna. here's a site that lists the 28 states that currently have a "nurse protection clause" in which nurse is only to be used by rns and lpns. this link is below:

title "nurse" protection

thank you for this link, i found this out about my state (which i did not know):

wisconsin

chapter 441. subchapter i regulation of nursing. 441.001 definitions

(2) nurse. except as provided under s. 441.08 (temporary permit), "nurse", when used without modification or amplification, means only a registered nurse.

if i am understanding this correctly, does it mean that even an lpn cannot call themselves "nurse" without specifying "licensed practical nurse?"

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This is actually one of my biggest pet peeves. Actually the whole MA thing in general annoys me. They are not held to the same standards by a governing board as nurses, they do not have the same education, and because they are paid less they are more likely to be hired by a doctor's office. Actually I know of many doctors offices that ONLY hire MAs!

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I'm an APN, and in our office we have RNs, LPNs, and MOA (medical office assts). If any of the MOAs are referring to themselves as nurses, they'd be out looking for a job.

In IL, nurse is a protected title.

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In Ontario Canada, LPN's are called RPN's (registered practical nurses) and we are registered with our College of Nurses...our R.N.'s are also registered with the same College of Nurses. We also have personal support workers...which are kind of like health aids (they need to go to college for this). I'm an RPN. I have a difficult time telling people what I actually do for a living...the general public doesn't understand...they just think that everyone in scrubs is a nurse or a doctor. I have friends who are personal support workers...and I have heard them call themselves nurses. It ticks me off because I don't think they understand how much work it is to become a nurse and to keep up your license.

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Bottom line patients have the right to know who the person is that is taking care of them. That includes their job title. To mislead the patient is dishonest and violates patient's rights. What if the MA gave advise? That is not within the scope of practice and if that advise led to patient harm she could have some heafty legal problems and the practice could be included in a suit since the MA is working under their supervision.

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thank you for this link, i found this out about my state (which i did not know):

wisconsin

chapter 441. subchapter i regulation of nursing. 441.001 definitions

(2) nurse. except as provided under s. 441.08 (temporary permit), "nurse", when used without modification or amplification, means only a registered nurse.

if i am understanding this correctly, does it mean that even an lpn cannot call themselves "nurse" without specifying "licensed practical nurse?"

correct.

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I have experienced both CNAs and MAs calling themselves nurses. It is very confusing for patients. I have even had the experience of a CNA giving a patient medical advice. When i corrected the information the patient was being given (as RN) the patient chose to believe what the CNA was telling her. Sometimes this "claiming" of titles one has not earned can have ill effect on pt outcomes as they are not sure who to believe.

Whenever someone is parading as a physician without having a license, their pictures will be plastered all over the news and internet as practicing without a license. Nursing doesnt prosecute many for claiming this title.

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