Intravenous meds and medical assistants

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How can I found out which states allow medical assitants to give IV medications?

I am a certified medical assistant and I must say we go to school just as long as LPN's ,so why shouldn't we be able to give injections. LPN's and medical assistant's have basically the same duties on their job and get paid about the same thing so why shouldn't we give injections.

OK, there is a HUGE different between duties in their job and pay between CMA and LVN! Maybe in the Dr's office but NOT on the floor. I work on the cardiac floor and I don't know any CMA's that have the education to give IV push medications, titrate IV drips, interpret telemetry strips, make nursing judgements related to pt's condition on whether to give a b/p med or not. Plus, LVN's are paid MUCH more! My hospital job pays me nearly 23/hr and my LTAC job pays me close to 30. CMA's do not have the extensive training in L&D, psych, med/surg, pedi, and maternity! You can closely resemble job descriptions and educations for RN's and LVN's, but CMA's is on a different level.

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I don't get it... issue a CMA license and be done with it, then they will meet all of your precious licensure requirement.

The facts are that a CMA has better training than most LPN's I've hired for working in physican offices, this includes things like lab work, how to document, how to perform plebotomy, etc.

The license is a legal requirement. Their education is already there, and the legal requirement is met by the fact they are working under the MD supervision.

If you feel so strongly that they should have a license of their own (which is not required legally), then I suggest you start lobbying your legislature to pass a medical office assistant law -- and require everyone who works in a medical office to pass it. I doubt very many LPN's could pass it on a first sitting unless they had OJT or had studied extensively.

I don't mean to be rude, but what in the world are you doing on all NURSES if you're a high and mighty CMA?!? try sitting for the NCLEX then get back to us. there's a reason CMA stands for CERTIFIED medical assistant, and LVN stands for LISCENSED vocational nurse. a liscense carries a much higher legal responsibility, higher scope of practice and much much much higher education level and stature. So, next time you want to work on the floor in a tertiary hospital you can see about changing your mind. BTW, CMA's are held at the NURSE TECH or nurse's aide level NOT LVN/LPN level in the hospital. There are reasons behind this, the state board of nursing is not stupid

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My :twocents:

Here in Ontario they changed the requirements for entry in to practice for registered nurses. To enter the profession you have to have you BScN. Why did they do this?? Because literature showed that mortality rates go down with the higher level of education, (I'm not flaming anyone here that doesn't have a BScN!) so the thought of some unregulated health care worker hanging a med or giving an injection scares the crap out of me!

Leave the meds to the professionals. You need critical thinking skills to monitor your patient and know what to do, not just knowledge about A&P, how the drug works, etc.

I have replied to several posts on this subject and it's like talking to a wall. MA's are trained to work in a CLINICAL setting, not a hospital. We take the same Pharmacology course that the LPN students take, plus have to know assesment, nursing implications, nursing diagnoses, side effects, adverse reactions, contraindications, drug interactions, symptoms of toxicity, and the same dose calculation class. Each state has it's own scope of practice for MA's, with some states allowing IV placement and taking x-rays. And yes, they should be licensed. But until then, this profession is one of the fastest growing professions nation wide, and MA's (well-trained) should have no problem finding a job. My point is that instead of beating each other up over this silliness, we need to understand what each profession does and respect that, not belittle it.

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I don't mean to be rude, but what in the world are you doing on all NURSES if you're a high and mighty CMA?!? try sitting for the NCLEX then get back to us. there's a reason CMA stands for CERTIFIED medical assistant, and LVN stands for LISCENSED vocational nurse. a liscense carries a much higher legal responsibility, higher scope of practice and much much much higher education level and stature. So, next time you want to work on the floor in a tertiary hospital you can see about changing your mind. BTW, CMA's are held at the NURSE TECH or nurse's aide level NOT LVN/LPN level in the hospital. There are reasons behind this, the state board of nursing is not stupid

This is a perfect example of my recent post. Are you saying we are not welcome here? How do you know I'm not planning on becoming a nurse or am not already in school to become a nurse? You're just assuming. I have to say that comments like these make me not want to become a nurse. I don't have an elitist attitude. :stone

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
I am a certified medical assistant and I must say we go to school just as long as LPN's ,so why shouldn't we be able to give injections. LPN's and medical assistant's have basically the same duties on their job and get paid about the same thing so why shouldn't we give injections.

It would help if people would RESEARCH the fields to know what each does before they draw their own conclusion.

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It would help if people would RESEARCH the fields to know what each does before they draw their own conclusion.

Amen! :)

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
My point is that instead of beating each other up over this silliness, we need to understand what each profession does and respect that, not belittle it.

This probably wouldn't happen if some people didn't INSIST that LPN/LVN med training and MA med training are so similar.:banghead:

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This is a perfect example of my recent post. Are you saying we are not welcome here? How do you know I'm not planning on becoming a nurse or am not already in school to become a nurse? You're just assuming. I have to say that comments like these make me not want to become a nurse. I don't have an elitist attitude. :stone

I think a lot of people on the board are irritated by the ones in this thread and others who come here and claim to have just as much education if not more than the nurses on this board. Taking into account the fact that the name of this site is allnurses, that is going to ruffle a few feathers, not to mention the fact that it just plain isn't true. It doesn't take anything away from the MA to admit that the LPN scope of practice and education is clinically more far reaching. LPN's are qualified to work in multiple settings in a nursing capacity, MA's are not. Just the facts. All healthcare team members are welcome on this site, but they need to be respectful of the others that are here. Coming on to the board and saying that lpns wouldn't pass the CMA exam and, MA's are more educated than LPN's is just trolling. The same could be expected if nurses from this site went on to SDN and started posting things about how some nurses go to school for the same amount of time as some doctors, and how they are the same etc... the exact same repsonses with a few other inflammatory remarks would meet those posts.

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I think a lot of people on the board are irritated by the ones in this thread and others who come here and claim to have just as much education if not more than the nurses on this board. Taking into account the fact that the name of this site is allnurses, that is going to ruffle a few feathers, not to mention the fact that it just plain isn't true. It doesn't take anything away from the MA to admit that the LPN scope of practice and education is clinically more far reaching. LPN's are qualified to work in multiple settings in a nursing capacity, MA's are not. Just the facts. All healthcare team members are welcome on this site, but they need to be respectful of the others that are here. Coming on to the board and saying that lpns wouldn't pass the CMA exam and, MA's are more educated than LPN's is just trolling. The same could be expected if nurses from this site went on to SDN and started posting things about how some nurses go to school for the same amount of time as some doctors, and how they are the same etc... the exact same repsonses with a few other inflammatory remarks would meet those posts.

But why do nurses get so defensive about CMA's? I'm not claiming to be more educated than an LPN and I don't understand the hostility.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
I think a lot of people on the board are irritated by the ones in this thread and others who come here and claim to have just as much education if not more than the nurses on this board. Taking into account the fact that the name of this site is allnurses, that is going to ruffle a few feathers, not to mention the fact that it just plain isn't true. It doesn't take anything away from the MA to admit that the LPN scope of practice and education is clinically more far reaching. LPN's are qualified to work in multiple settings in a nursing capacity, MA's are not. Just the facts. All healthcare team members are welcome on this site, but they need to be respectful of the others that are here. Coming on to the board and saying that lpns wouldn't pass the CMA exam and, MA's are more educated than LPN's is just trolling. The same could be expected if nurses from this site went on to SDN and started posting things about how some nurses go to school for the same amount of time as some doctors, and how they are the same etc... the exact same repsonses with a few other inflammatory remarks would meet those posts.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMEN!:stone

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
But why do nurses get so defensive about CMA's? I'm not claiming to be more educated than an LPN and I don't understand the hostility.

Not attacking, but this quote is just one example of what ruffles my feathers:

We take the same Pharmacology course that the LPN students take, plus have to know assesment, nursing implications, nursing diagnoses, side effects, adverse reactions, contraindications, drug interactions, symptoms of toxicity, and the same dose calculation class.

It sounds like what's being said is that because you take the "same" course, you're just as qualified.

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I think a lot of people on the board are irritated by the ones in this thread and others who come here and claim to have just as much education if not more than the nurses on this board.

Like "And when you get to where I am in my experience level...then talk...then talk!eyes!" :angryfire

Taking into account the fact that the name of this site is allnurses, that is going to ruffle a few feathers, not to mention the fact that it just plain isn't true. It doesn't take anything away from the MA to admit that the LPN scope of practice and education is clinically more far reaching. LPN's are qualified to work in multiple settings in a nursing capacity, MA's are not. Just the facts. All healthcare team members are welcome on this site, but they need to be respectful of the others that are here. Coming on to the board and saying that lpns wouldn't pass the CMA exam and, MA's are more educated than LPN's is just trolling. The same could be expected if nurses from this site went on to SDN and started posting things about how some nurses go to school for the same amount of time as some doctors, and how they are the same etc... the exact same repsonses with a few other inflammatory remarks would meet those posts.

I believe that that is the nail hit right on the head.

Is it time to close this thread????

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