LPN vs MA

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I am currently registering for a technical college's LPN program. I have been wrestling between medical assisting and practical nursing. So far, the descriptions of both look the same. I suppose if I am rejected from the nursing program, I will go for my CMA. It is just hard to see ahead to what I will be doing. I am just wondering if anyone has any further information that I could use.

Specializes in Neuro/EMU, Pediatrics, Med Surg.

By the way, I am in Texas where we are called LVN whereas other states refer to it as LPN

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If both programs are the same do LPN.. LPN' can administer Meds. Of course you draw blood and insert iv's and the pay is double. You will have more opportunities for jobs. Nursing is a wide field. You can pick what area you want to work in and go for that. Hospital's in my area hire lpn's. Rn's are few and far in between.. it may be a rn as the charge nurse and the rest lpn's unless you go to a specalitt floor then they maybe all rn's. Like day surgery in our clinical every one was a rn.

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Lpn is very close interaction with the patient your job will be to adminster medication per doctors order. And do what ever you need to do to make that patient comfortable. MA.. take vital signs and sit them in a room to wait for the doctor. It a whole different ball game. Nursing your assessing the patient from head to toe. You learn whats normal and what's not normal. Where you can look at something and say ok this is not right and report it to the doctor. Nursing requires alot of critical thinking.

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OK, I get it. Does anyone know what a good passing score is for the NLN test? I got a 156 in the 99 percentile, but competition is pretty high. I don't find out till March whether I got in or not. Can an LPN challenge the CMA test? I was just wondering if I knew enough after the diploma course to take both tests. Sometimes you have more job opportunities if you have more credentials. I am already partially familiar with office work. I could always take a couple classes for coding and be done. I would not actually go through the whole program. I was just wondering if I could take the test with what I know.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

If you got in the 99th percentile, then you should be fine.

As far as challenging the CMA exam, again, they are two different paths; although I am limited on my knowledge as to whether one can challenge it-again, once you become a LPN, the salary ranges, at least in my experience, is exponentially more than a MA, at least in my area.

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OK, I get it. Does anyone know what a good passing score is for the NLN test? I got a 156 in the 99 percentile, but competition is pretty high. I don't find out till March whether I got in or not. Can an LPN challenge the CMA test? I was just wondering if I knew enough after the diploma course to take both tests. Sometimes you have more job opportunities if you have more credentials. I am already partially familiar with office work. I could always take a couple classes for coding and be done. I would not actually go through the whole program. I was just wondering if I could take the test with what I know.

Nope, you cannot challenge the CMA test. CMA requires graduation from an approved program and completion of an externship before you can sit for the certification test. RMA, on the other hand -- a registered MA -- is through a different qualifying and testing system. It used to be you could sit for the RMA exam without completing a formal program after working a certain number of years as a MA. I don't know if that currently remains true.

ETA: The LVNs in my area make DOUBLE the hourly rate of CMAs. Just saying.

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Thank ya'll so much. I really appreciate the info. It has been so hard! I was in college for getting my RN, then health and relationship issues came in the way and I had to go home. I tried a Residential care program, but that bottomed out since they did not have enough people for classes. I was told after I spent a whole semester trying to finish the classes for that program. Finally was able to transfer, and here I am with half a semester to wait until I know for sure! Sometimes I wish life would happen as we plan out, but that is definitely not possible in nursing. Again thanks so much.

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Best of luck to you, Parakeet!

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