LPN versus CMA

Nurses LPN/LVN

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I was thinking at first of going for my Medical Assistant degree, since I want to work in a clinic so badly. I heard so much about how LPN's are getting phased out and only CMA's are getting jobs at clinics, and CMA's are higher up than LPN's. This of course coming from recruters from CMA programs. It would seem that the only difference between CMA's and LPN's are the fact that Med Asst's. get training in lab and x-ray. Well, I already am a certified Phlebotomist, and so I have that going. Any of you guys and gals work alongside Med Assts? Anyone work in clinics? :balloons:

Specializes in Internal Med, Dementia Care, Womens Health.

no offens taken on my spelling I know mine is awful do to my hearing disability, as well as my one arm is in acast at the moment so it is hard to type. For some reason the spell chek will not work on your web page for me pos. due to our operating system "ubuntu" or I just don't know how to get it to un lock me from the spell check on yor web.I also in no way ment to write that LPNs practice medicine I think I drew a blank there for a moment and that was the first word to come to mind. sorry if my thread is hard to read just that spelling has always been challenging for me especialy with words that are hard tosound out. also yes i love allnurses I read allthe timebut for above reason I have restraind from commenting. thanks:wink2:

Specializes in Geriatrics, Dementia.

When I was 18, I wanted to be a nurse. I heard about this "great" progam at a local "college". I went and talked to the recruiter, I told her I wanted to be a nurse. She told me that being a Cerified Medical Assistant was just like being an LPN, and that the pay was similar, and that my credits could be transferred to the community college. I was excited, I signed up that day. After I got my first job, reality set in. CMA's don't work in hospitals often, if at all. They can not do nearly as much clinical things as an LPN can. I remained a CMA for 6 yrs, until my son was in kindergarten, and I could go to nursing school. I graduated from LPN school in 2000, and I am MUCH more happy as a nurse then as a CMA. The pay is alot different, and I became IV certified right away. You also get more respect as an LPN, and you can bridge to RN, BSN etc, where you can not even apply your medical assisting credits towards it. LPN's make more money then CMA's, or at least have the opportunity to. Please be careful.

Wow, I pay $250/yr to keep my practice permit current. It includes my insurance but wow, $50/yr!

Specializes in OB (with a history of cardiac).

Wow...geez. I go away for like 2 years and come back and this thread is still, um, hoppin.

I sure didn't mean for it go get so nasty. When I posted it I was sure I wanted to work in a clinic and wasn't certain whether it would have been better for me to get my LPN or CMA. It's 2 years later and I got my LPN- which is good because it turns out I really do want to be an RN, so there's my springboard. My initial question has been answered for certain. Although I do work with some MA's and CMA's who have more skill in their pinkies than I do in my whole hand.

But yeah my initial question is answered. LPN's and CMA's both rawk, both are essential to outpatient settings and do practically the same things, although there are some things in our clinics that only the LPN's and RN's can do that CMA's cannot. Oh well. Hey. Like I said, both jobs are vital because we both do the dirty work...so to speak. :yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah:

Specializes in Internal Med, Dementia Care, Womens Health.

I in no way would put CMA down, like I say I go to alot of them for help the ones who have been there along time and they have learnd alot of the things we were taught in LPN SCHOOL. I also feel there are nurses out their that you wonder how they passed school. I basicly think it all comes down to bedside manner, compitance,hummility,safety and ultimately the same goal which should be shared buy all healthcare members and that is the care of the patient.my two best friends at work are CMA's with 15 years under their belt I constantly ask for reasurance or back up especial when injecting some meds that could have very detramental effects. I trust these two over any other nurse or new cmas in my suite.:redpinkhe:redpinkhe:redpinkhe:redpinkhe

I know it differs from state to state but I graduated with an Associates degree in medical assiting. I sit for the certification and I was hired at an outpatient surgical clinic and I'm making $24 hr after working there for 6 months. (job duties include: IV therapy, venipuncture,injections,calling in meds,administering meds,assiting with surgeries..the list goes on) I keep on hearing here that LPN's have a more educational background than CMA's and that makes me laugh. The school I went too was accredited and there was a ton of educational requirements that I had to go through before I could graduate and sit for the boards. Again, I'm sure the state laws differ, but enough of putting down CMA's!

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

No one was putting down CMAs. The main points expressed were that they are not licensed to work elsewhere. Their domain is primarily outpatient clinics under the auspice of a physician, and the nurse learned information in 4 main domains. This is not to say that a CMA cannot function there successfully, either, just saying it is not regulated in all states and not a requirement stated by any law what their education should be.

Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.

The difference comes down to a license. You are not performing these skills under your own licenses. MA's at my school are in class about 1/4 of the time the LVN students are. 1/2 of an associates is usually general requirements so you might feel that having an associates makes you more qualified than a LVN but its not true.

As an outsider, I've gotta say this was a good read. I'd love to work in a doctors office, and I know this much. Alas, I'd obviously prefer the standard pay of LPN vs. a CMA. So, knowing i want to work in a doctors office, which route makes more sense?

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
As an outsider, I've gotta say this was a good read. I'd love to work in a doctors office, and I know this much. Alas, I'd obviously prefer the standard pay of LPN vs. a CMA. So, knowing i want to work in a doctors office, which route makes more sense?

Many trained and certified Medical Assistants have a hard time obtaining a position in a doctor's office after graduation, so, I would say LPN or even RN for further opportunities. If you discover a CMA program, make sure you are not paying more than about $2000...otherwise it definitely is not worth it. There is one at a community college in my area, where the tuition is about $2500, and it is 4 months...(New York) if you really want to become a CMA.

First, I did not read all 24 pages of this thread, so I apollogize if someone has already made these points, but it certainly won't hurt to repeat them again.

I used to instruct a course called Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants at a Junior College in Nebraska. Though I was initially hired to teach a Computer Hardware & Maintenance course, when the Dean discovered I had a BSN she also recruited me for the CMA course, and here is a part of what I came away with from the experience.

The CMA curriculums (as well as PA curriculums) have been designed by the Medical Profession with a very specific ideology in order to foster 2 very specific purposes - to increase productivity and increase fiscal profits. These purposes are not necessarily connected for just the sake of profit, but increased productivity generally results in increased profits, as does a lower cost for labor - but not always, since a laborer with a more robust education can often save the day.

There are never enough physicians and there are always too many patients. So, if physicians are going to be able to provide their services in a way that meets the demands for those services within a given community, they must find ways to see more patients in less time. Hence, the CMA is cross-trained to provide procedural labor in the back and front of the medical office. Nurses, on the other hand, are trained for procedural labor that is suitable for the back office, but the training is often overkill and costs more to employ. But there is still another issue with employing a nurse in the back office - they are trained to provide nursing care labor ahead of procedural labor. Not only can this be overkill in the office setting, it can be quite inefficient in the office setting. It takes additional time to "care" for a patient in the manner that nurses are trained, and it's nearly impossible to get a nurse to NOT provide nursing care - even when its not needed. Nurses are also prone to second-guess physicians when assuming the educationally-ingrained role of patient advocate - which is also inefficient in the office setting - though sometimes necessary. Fimally, nurses are taught to educate patients in wholistic self-care, which is where they shine in the medical office.

This is not meant to imply that CMAs, PAs and MDs don't "care" about their patients or teach them to care for themselves, nor is it meant to imply that nursing care has no value in a medical office, which is why most offices employ all 3. Neither should their be a heirarchy among these disciplines, except between the MD and an individual discipline. Each have a scope of practice that meets specific needs, but none of these 3 disciplines are actually requred to assist a physician. All the physician must have in an office assistant is someone with the intelligence learn what needs to be done.

The reason nurses can demand more money is because they can function autonomously as caregivers and are lisenced to provide procedural labor, within their scope of practice, when not under the direct supervision of a physician. In fact, nurses are known to challenge or even refuse to carry out a physician's order, but they best have good reason if they expect to keep their job and license.

I hope this can clear up some of the misconceptions regarding the value of both CMAs and nurses. I also hope it can aid those who manage both disciplines in the office setting. My wife is a LPN at a Pulmonary Clinic, yet her manager is a CMA, which is legitimate. The only issue is they don't undrstand each other's unique educational and vocational training - which can easily lead to ineffective management, a lack of teamwork, and ultimately, a chaotic and inefficient delivery of medical office services.

Specializes in Cardio.

I have been down to both paths.

Took my CMA, Phlebotomy, EKG, CCT certifications while in MA school in 9 months..

There is no comparison either in educational either in competency aspect.

In MA program we just touched A&P, very very basic.

A lot of labs, computer classes, billing and coding, terminology, physics, ultrasound classes etc. Most of us made it..

For me it was sooooooooo easy that I never open my books, never did homework never ( English is my second language).....and I finished with a GPA 4..

then started the LPN school. Whoever didn't have any educational background or hadn't take the NET test before..didn't make it , those all were gone in the first weeks or during the semesters.. The only who made it either had other degrees or RN prepreqs.

We started 30 and finished 5. The program is very very intense..

Anyway, as I said did both..Can not compare ...because are totally different..and there is no need to compare who knows more and who is better..Both are wonderful.

Nursing is difficult, nurses have a license that put at risk every day, LPN have from 30 up to 60 patients per shift and all together , wounds, meds, teaching, injections, post op, no doctor with them on the floor.. etc.etc.

MA work under doctor's license with the doctor there and have 2-3 patients at the time, mostly Vital signs and injections.

An MA shouldn't do any IV therapy because is not under her certification and duty and should be certified to do venipuncture,,Doctors make them do all those cause is all about money.....I would never do anything am not licensed or certified to do. What MA does depends on the practice they work for..they can do front office or clinical or both..They don't get paid enough for what they do..that's for sure..

Now I am in the RN program. Never regret that I went the long path. I have wonderful friends from MA program. Some are going in nursing, some will be MA forever because that is what they love to do...

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