MA question

[RebekahMA]

I am currently going to school for MA. I keep hearing not so great things about becoming an MA like you do not make good money and it's not worth it. I'm not sure if I want to go all the way and go for nursing. Would it benefit me to just go for a CNA or MA? Which would give me more experience and further me better if I did want to go for a RN. Is becoming an MA worth it?

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Most of us are nurses and not MA's, so you're not likely to get much support there. Perhaps you can find an MA site to gather more information. But there might be some nurses here that work with MA's that can advise you, but don't be surprised if the posts are slow coming.

I would say that if you have a desire and a long-term goal to become a nurse, then start wtih being a CNA. This would get you into the door and come into more contact with nurses and get you comfortable with hands on care. You might find a facility that will offer tuition reimbursement to help you get through school.

There's more advancement potential to become a nurse with the CNA, because you can go CNA to LPN to RN to MSN etc. With an MA, you're stuck being an MA and there doesn't seem to be much advancement potential.

[sassiebaz]

I say if you are interested in becoming an MA, just go for the LPN. Out here where I am, lots of offices advertise LPN/MA for hire in their offices. LPN's aren't used much in hospitals out this way. Few and far between! I am an MA and after my externship I hated that job. Not sure if I will like nursing either so Im stuck right now. But, as an MA I found it so repetative, you don't get any hands on with the patients unless you are drawing their blood or doing vitals. I would say LPN's makequite a bit more than MA's out here. I should have bypassed it and gone straight for my LPN......