ma2cna = a well rounded nurse?

evolvingrn, BSN, RN · Nov 24, 2011

I think it will definitely be an asset . good luck

*LadyJane* · Nov 24, 2011

If she's a hospital nurse, the lab comes and draws blood. The nurses on the floor don't do it. Why should she know that she needs to draw a lavender top and a tiger top? If she needed to draw some blood, if she didn't know which types of tubes to use, she'd simply call the lab, but it isn't likely that this situation would arise.

And to answer your question, working as a CNA would be helpful, MA not so much, although plenty of nurses did well in school and got jobs just fine without any CNA experience. It does help the hospital or facility get to know you and your work ethics, and may help you get hired there after school. Unfortunately, I do know someone who worked as a MA in a hospital affiliated clinic, and she graduated from NS, and wasn't offered a job, because she had the know-it-all attitude, and the rest of the nurses who knew her thought that attitude would not fly with them.

Jane

Kaligirl02, ADN, BSN, MSN, LVN, RN, APRN, NP · Nov 24, 2011

She works in adult critical care and phlebotomy techs can't draw from a certin line.

The reason why I thnk having experience as an MA would be good because of all the skills I have learned. It has helped me out a lot so far, while the other students are slacking :-/

Thanks for your opinion.

brandy1017, ASN, RN · Nov 24, 2011

So I take it your cousin is a BSN with no relevant work experience and minimal clinicals. She obviously doesn't have the advantage of experience that you will have given your jobs as medical assistant and CNA.

If you are able to pass all the coursework and pass state boards then yes you will have an easier time of it! That said, it doesn't mean she's dumb just because she didn't get a good clinical and it will take her a while to catch up with the many clinical skills you already possess! Don't judge her for that! Skills can be learned, but nursing also requires critical thinking to keep patients safe, prevent codes. Practical hands on skills are not all that's required! Without the critical thinking and knowledge about pathophysiology and pharmacology all your skills won't help you be a nurse. You need both and don't try to skate by just with your skills. You will still need to study to pass and be a good nurse!

RhinoRocketRN · Nov 24, 2011

who cares if she doesnt have the lab draw tubes memorized??? not that big of a deal.... as for whether or not being a MA or CNA will make you a "better" nurse (RN) than someone who doesnt have that experience... no. different scope of practice, different way of thinking. :twocents:

Kaligirl02, ADN, BSN, MSN, LVN, RN, APRN, NP · Nov 24, 2011

Thanks Brandy!! Oh trust me I'm not judging, I just wished our Family knew that even though she went straight to her BSN she doesn't know everything. I help her out ALL the time. I hope she does the same in return. I'm not saying I will be a better nurse than her.... Just wondering if I would be a well rounded nurse. It's not a post saying I will be better... Just if I would have a better understanding. She is going to switch to doing insurance physicals soon. I'm just saying I have pt care and know what I'm getting myself into in some way.

Kaligirl02, ADN, BSN, MSN, LVN, RN, APRN, NP · Nov 24, 2011

who cares if she doesnt have the lab draw tubes memorized??? not that big of a deal.... as for whether or not being a MA or CNA will make you a "better" nurse (RN) than someone who doesnt have that experience... no. different scope of practice, different way of thinking.

Once again a well rounded nurse.

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Nov 24, 2011

If she's a hospital nurse, the lab comes and draws blood. The nurses on the floor don't do it. Why should she know that she needs to draw a lavender top and a tiger top? If she needed to draw some blood, if she didn't know which types of tubes to use, she'd simply call the lab, but it isn't likely that this situation would arise.
.
Jane

While I don't believe in knowing what goes in what tube to be a super important nursing skill, I just wanted to say that not all hospitals have a phlebotomy team. In fact, I have worked at 3 hospitals and of those, only 1 has had a lab team. At the other two RN's and CNA's were expected to draw any labwork needed for the pt.

Kaligirl02, ADN, BSN, MSN, LVN, RN, APRN, NP · Nov 24, 2011

Hi ChristnieN- I was just wondering if being knowledgeable on basic clinical task and knowing basic bedside skills that combined with passing and becoming a nurse would I be well rounded? Every time someone asks things like this they get chewed out... No one even noticed that I said "well rounded" they think I said better...

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Nov 24, 2011

as an instructor i struggled with the cnas/mas who came to nursing school because they had the hardest time learning the nursing role and integrating it into their practice. "i know as much as a nurse, i just need the credential" is something i used to hear when i was just around the corner. those people were good at what they did...being aides. they were depressingly resistant to learning about nursing because they thought they knew it already.

listen up, op. yes, you have some what are called psychomotor skills, familiarity with manipulative tasks, and you know some trivia that a nurse doesn't often need to know, and if s/he does, can find out easily. these things will not automatically make you a "well-rounded nurse;" far from it indeed. (and besides, it won't take but a few months for the other new grads to catch up to you in all of that, and then what?)

we see people all the time who can do tasks flawlessly but can't nurse their way out of a damp paper bag because they have no idea what it all means, and no clue on the huge responsibility and autonomy in nursing. they tend to think that if they can "follow doctor's orders" then that's all they need to do, and they are sure they can do that because that's all they think they see when they look at nurses caring for patients. they are blind.

never, never think that your mastery of these tasks will translate in any way, shape, manner, or form to success as a registered nurse. we teach what i call "stuff" to lay people all the time-- home ventilator care, home hemodialysis, all sorts of stuff. students concentrate on stuff because they have to get it all checked off in lab, and they envy their classmates who got to give an im or sink an ng or insert a foley or draw blood or whatnot and they didn't. they complain because they are doing a clinical in a snf and can't do all those things there, and think they'll be ill-prepared for "real nursing" if they don't. but "stuff" is not nursing. their faculty have other learning goals in mind for them and are trying valiantly to make those lessons heard.

i will grant you that all you know about nursing is pretty much what you see nurses do in the short time you see them, so you will get a bye on that. you don't know what you don't know.

now, if you are not the kind of person who thinks because she can have her patients all "done up" by 0900 when her classmates are still struggling with breakfast trays that she's a better student nurse bound to be more, umm, well-rounded than they will, guess again. don't equate what nursing is with what tasks you see nursing doing.

so i guess in answer to your question, well, no. retain your task-familiarity-- who knows, maybe you'll end up as a rn iv therapy specialist-- but forget the rest of it. you are just as new to nursing as someone who's never set foot on a med-surg floor; you will have to focus on learning how to be a nurse every bit as hard as she does.

llg, PhD, RN · Nov 24, 2011

The fact that you already have some experience with health care will probably be of some help to you in the nursing program. However, it is no guarantee of success. The nursing curriculum will probably include some things that you already know ... but it will probably also include many new things. You'll have to learn that new material just like everybody else.

So, be prepared to work hard -- and be open to learning new things and new ways of doing things you already do -- and you'll probably do OK. But if you get over-confident, or if you are resistent to learning the nursing material, you'll be setting yourself up for failure.

I wish you the best of luck in your schooling ahead.