LPN or Medical Assistant and Why?

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Apr 21, 2016

Most MA's seem to find employment in clinics. Many LPN's, long term care facilities. And LPN would make more because s/he is LICENSED. An MA can be hired off the street, put in scrubs and put to work. Now, most AREN'T hired that way, but MA's can be on the job trained and employed without ever having set foot into a classroom

UIHCPNA · Apr 21, 2016

I appreciate your response. I do know the difference between the two, however I was asking which career or degree people have chosen, and why.

Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN · Apr 21, 2016

Medical assistant can be a "dead end" when it comes to education. LVNs can take bridge programs to become RNs. RN's can move from an associate's degree to a bachelor's to a master's or even become nurse practitioners. MAs pretty much have to start from scratch if they decide they want to advance or try something new. LVN would be my choice between the two for those reasons.

I don't know which of the two might be more marketable in your area, but that's definitely something you should look into, as well. If one pays more, but there are no jobs available, the extra pay is not much help.

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Apr 21, 2016

My bad. I was under the false assumption that you didn't, hence asking the question, "which makes more"?

I appreciate your response. I do know the difference between the two, however I was asking which career or degree people have chosen, and why.

UIHCPNA · Apr 21, 2016

I have heard of some MA's in my area starting at the same as an LPN.

roser13, ASN, RN · Apr 21, 2016

I have heard of some MA's in my area starting at the same as an LPN.

Very unfortunate? But true.

LessValuableNinja · Apr 29, 2016

I became an LPN because it's a license I got in the Army before going off to be a guided missile officer and then onto grad school for IT and working in project/operations management. If I were doing it as a civilian, I would have gone straight to BSN. I'm doing an accelerated 11 month BS to BSN program right now, then straight onto MSN. If a person who is young and has no major financial obligations were to ask me, I'd say, "Don't do MA or LPN, go straight to BSN." However, life circumstances and/or being unable to get into RN programs can make a one yearish program very desirable in certain situations. In those situations, you have an MA program that's 6-8 months versus an LVN program or LPn program that's 10-14 months in most cases. The primary employers of MAs in this area are doctors offices, though I've known some MAs that work as patient care technicians or CNAs to get inpatient experience prior to or during nursing school, or because the hospitals around here generally offer tuition reimbursement while they're in school. In this area, the primary empoyers ofLVNs are long term care facilities, though a lot of them also work in rehab (drug/alcohol) and doctors offices or minute clinic type places. In this area, starting pay for MAs is $9-11 an hour, with most experienced MAs making $12-15 an hour. In this area, starting LVN pay is $18-20 an hour, and the range made by people I know personally is $21-28 an hour. On pay alone, I'd suggest a couple months more school if in an area like this, though I can't speak for other areas. RNs obviously make more, so if you can stick it out for three years (really, all said and done, an ADN takes 2.5-3 years in this area including pre-reqs, not 2 years) you may as well set your sights on that. In this area, it's easy to get a job either as an MA or an LVN, but in other areas that may be a consideration. Another consideration is the age old: will my credits do me any good in my future endeavors? In this area, as an LVN you can "bridge" program from LVN to ADN, and there are also a couple LVN to BSN bridge programs. In this area, your MA training would not transfer to any RN program.

UIHCPNA · Apr 30, 2016

Lots of great information. Thank you!