MA to RN

CandAmommy · Apr 29, 2009

It's my understanding that MA and RN are totally different and frankly you would be waisting your time. I would get the pre-reqs' out of the way and apply to nursing school. You would be better off (in my opinion) getting your CNA certification. A lot of nursing schools are now requiring it. Good luck!

adorblepuppy · Apr 29, 2009

I agree. I would go ahead and work towards the nursing degree. Some of the class's you may be able to transfer. The rn's here could tell you better than me. But if you are going to waste two years to do medical assisting i would go ahead and do nursing. Depending on the state you may do what is called the bridge program. Where you can go ahead and get your lpn and then after that go into the rn program. the reason the people that i know that did this was so they could go ahead and work as a lpn while waiting to get their rn. Just a suggestion

CandAmommy · Apr 29, 2009

LPN school is a great suggestion.

Jubilayhee · Apr 29, 2009

I would forget the whole MA thing an start your pre reqs for the nursing. Having a MA license will NOT help you much for nursing.

Nelle84 · May 2, 2009

go straight for nursing. I wasted my time and $23,000 with the MA thing

caliotter3 · May 2, 2009

As the others have said, you are wasting time and money by going for the MA. You would be doing better to get an AAS with an LPN license if you can't get into an RN program. Once you have an LPN license you can go into an LPN to RN bridge program and may have an easier time getting into RN school. You also will have more work opportunities with an LPN license, should you decide to work while in RN school or before RN school. Good luck with your schooling.

sonomala · May 2, 2009

I love everyone on this board but just so you know nurses and MA's don't usually get along to well so its not exactly a popular topic here. If your looking to go right to work after your two years and you know without a doubt RN is for you, LPN is probably the better idea. But in some places, like mine, rn programs outnumber them 2-1 and have the same prereqs. Most RN schools require CNA so its a good idea to go ahead and get it when you have the chance. Where I'm at CNA on the rn application gets you five points, CNA 2 gets you five more points and every five years of exp as a cna gets you so many more points. (Probably because if you can last that long as a cna you deserve the medal of honor :)) Medical Assistant only gets 2 points and nothing in terms of years on the job. If you want total care, lots of responsibility and the feeling you 150 percent valued in the medical community and you don't mind doing the time on the prereqs and possibly chilling out on the waiting list (over 2 years long here and roughly 100 applicants for every spot in the program) RN is worth the wait. If you just want to work in a doctors office and pay isn't a huge concern, I'd go MA. MA only pays about 5-7 thousand dollars more then CNA which for two years of school versus a three month program isn't great. But I just came off a CNA job and if I had to do that full time until my prereqs get done and I get in, I'd go insane. The smells, the changing of diapers, the issues with staff, getting attacked by residents coming home with poop in places it shouldn't be able to get to, its a very tough life.