MAs are better than LPNs and RNs?

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I'm a student in the LPN program. I'm planning to transfer into the lpn-to-rn program after six months of working. I have a friend who is a MA and she tells me to not go into the LPN program because hospitals and clinics are getting rid of LPNs and just using MAs. She also told me that LPNs don't learn anything important. They don't know how to draw blood and can't do IVs unless they get certified. so I told her what my plans were and she told me that even when I become an RN, I will only be making $11 and I have to start out in the nursing homes. I have another friend who claims that she has a friend who is an RN. That friend is working in a nursing home and is currently making $10. To me, sounds like that friend is only a CNA, not an RN.

So I was wondering, are any of her claims true? Is she just telling me this to scare me from becoming an RN? is it jealousy? She wanted to get into sonography but wasn't accepted and she went into MA. I got accepted into Sonography but didn't go because I couldn't see myself working as a sonographer. Now, she's telling me that if I wanted to go for RN, I might as well go for MA instead because they are smarter than most RNs.

I hope this is not everyone's experience, but I personally have experienced quite a few people attempting to dissuade me from becoming a nurse. My mother and aunt both think it is a profession that is "beneath" me and that I should become a doctor instead, as if nurses are just mini-doctors, and I can't even begin to explain the total lack of support I've seen nurses give both me and other aspiring RNs. IMO there are some very awful people out there who view nursing students as future competition, not future colleagues, and would LOVE to see you fail. You have to learn who to trust and who to ignore. This will be true when you finally enter the nursing workplace, as well.

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Specializes in MS, LTC, Post Op.

LoL...I was making $18.00/hr at my last LPN job.

My BFF is an RN making $25.00 and that is here in southern Ohio where wages suckth for the most part!

Your friend is wrong wrong wrong!!

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I hate that you are suffering that and, one does suffer when they don't have the support of loved ones. You follow your heart and your dreams. You don't just have to stop at an RN but can become a PA or Nurse Practitioner and even a Nursing educator. Best wishes to you as you reach for your goals and dreams.

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She's got her figures mixed up. I'm about to be a student in the MA program at our school but only while I wait for the chance to take the TEAS the next nursing program/class that opens up at our school for nursing is in Jan so for the time being I'm in the MA program.

Anyhoo....to get to my point my admission adviser said that a medical assistant makes in our area according to past graduates from our school about 12-13 bucks an hour depending and that an RN after graduation and certification by the board makes about 21-25 in the first year.

Your friend is being ridiculous. PLUS as an LPN/RN you have a lot more oppurtunities no offense to MA. Pretty much as an LPN you'd be an MA's superior. I think anyhow but I doubt you'd be working with an MA. IDK because I don't know about your local career oppurtunities.

Ignore that stuff she's spitting.

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Specializes in Emergency, Case Management, Informatics.

As everyone else has stated, your friend is either extremely jealous or ridiculously misinformed.

In my area, MA's are used in the hospital setting only as CNA's, unit secretaries, and sometimes Phlebotomists or EKG techs. You will not find a medical assistant in ANY hospital in this area so much as giving a tylenol to a patient, and certainly not performing their full (limited) scope of practice that they have in the doctor's office.

If the MA is "better" than the RN or LPN, ask your MA friend if it's within her scope of practice to supervise LPN's and RN's in a clinical role (not administrative/clerical).

Not to knock MA's, but MA schools fill MA students' heads up with soooo much nonsense just to get them into the overpriced program. It should be against the law what some of these MA schools are doing.

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Yeah I think the MA program is really expensive where I'm at but I wouldn't know what to compare it to. We're charged 11 grand or so every two semesters. I hope to get into the nursing program this is malarkey.

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Specializes in Emergency, Case Management, Informatics.

My PN program was around $5000 total (including books, supplies, and various fees).

One of the local community colleges is about $1500 per semester, so about $6000 total for tuition. Throw in books, supplies, uniforms, etc. probably about $8000 for an ADN.

Most of the MA schools around here are in the $10-12k range.

Can you say bass ackwards?

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.
My PN program was around $5000 total (including books, supplies, and various fees).

One of the local community colleges is about $1500 per semester, so about $6000 total for tuition. Throw in books, supplies, uniforms, etc. probably about $8000 for an ADN.

Most of the MA schools around here are in the $10-12k range.

Can you say bass ackwards?

Hello!!! I know! I got my MA education well below my BSN but the majority of people are monetarily raped getting their MA education!

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I hope the nursing program is fairly priced because 5,000 per semester is expensive.

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As everyone else has stated, your friend is either extremely jealous or ridiculously misinformed.

In my area, MA's are used in the hospital setting only as CNA's, unit secretaries, and sometimes Phlebotomists or EKG techs. You will not find a medical assistant in ANY hospital in this area so much as giving a tylenol to a patient, and certainly not performing their full (limited) scope of practice that they have in the doctor's office.

If the MA is "better" than the RN or LPN, ask your MA friend if it's within her scope of practice to supervise LPN's and RN's in a clinical role (not administrative/clerical).

Not to knock MA's, but MA schools fill MA students' heads up with soooo much nonsense just to get them into the overpriced program. It should be against the law what some of these MA schools are doing.

Wow, is the MA program really that expensive?

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Specializes in Emergency, Case Management, Informatics.
Wow, is the MA program really that expensive?

Depends on where you go. Before I got into LPN school a little over 4 years ago, I looked into going to Concorde for MA (I was researching a lot of options). I was quoted $12,000 for the one year program. I doubt the price has gone down.

There are cheaper programs, especially if you can find a community college that offers it. But there are a LOT of these for-profit MA schools like Concorde that are out there promoting the MA=RN nonsense and raping misinformed consumers' bank accounts.

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Specializes in Hospice.

:thnkg:I feel she's referring to CNAs in terms of the $10-11 and hour pay at nursing homes. I am a CNA and I work with experienced CNAs make$10-11 an hours, and although we don't discuss pay with nurses, I am quite sure they make more than $10-11 an hours. I'm also an Registered Medical Assistant not just a certified MA but I'm considered certified at the same time, meaning I could work nationally without having to get certified for each state.

During interviews for a MA positions, I have been offered anywhere from $9-11 an hours if hired as the starting pay, so the pay for MA is not that great either and these were Atlanta and metro atlanta cities, so imagine what smaller cities would offer. Anyway, I graduated with my MA diploma in 2005 and a 3.89 GPA, I pretty much Aced the national exam to become a RMA, so I'm no dummy.:grad:

Anyway, my point here is, I know of LPNs who have made anywhere from $30,000-$70,000. :dncgbby: As an LPN, i've been told, the pay is better in a nursing home than hospital, but you can cross train into so many other areas in a hospital setting. I worked for a local Health department as an intern once and there was an RN there making $45 an hour. Traveling nurses I've heard make great pay, for example, an RN worked for a travel agency, she went to CA for a 3 month assignment. They pay your travel expenses and room and board, and once her assignment was up, she came home with $30,000. You do the math.

I've worked at a doctor office as an MA making $10-11 an hour thanks to a temp agency who found my resume and gave me a call. Anyway,and there were also LPNs working who were assigned to a doctor and assisted that doctor with their patients and scheduled surgeries. I'm a CNA instead of MA because its easier to get a job as a CNA than MA for me and others I know. I work with other CNAs who are MAs too.

Doctors can be very picky and typically on wants you as an MA if you have at least 2 years experience and most times it has to be in their specialty area. So if they are in the specialty of Dermatology, they only want MAs who have that 2 years or more experience in dermatology, other specialty areas don't necessarily qualify you for the experience they desire. The one opportunity I had was with an orthopedic clinic and the office saw on average 300+ patients, I was a floating MA who floated among 8 different doctors and 7 Physician assistants. And each doctor wants things perform and set up their way or they got a program with you and don't mind showing expressing themselves to you and it can come off as rude. :trout:

As an MA, you may find doctors (snotty or not) offer great benefits, the office I worked for gave you 2 weeks vacation time and 2 week sick time the day you start, you didnt have to earn it. They also paid for their staff health insurance, and gave a $300 uniform allowance every year. And at the end of the year, if they profited, they would share the profit with the whole staff as a bonus and although I didnt last long enough to find out, but the staff members say it would range from $300-500 per person, so with all that in mind, maybe it seemed you made more money as an MA with the added benefits, but LPNs worked with me at this office and I know they made more than any of the 8 MAs the office had with just their hourly pay and they got the same bonuses. I've heard MAs from other offices say in other instances, the doctors may offer their cabin ranches to the staff as vacation spot free of charge. :onbch:

So the rewards are given in a different manner than some professions but I've worked as a CNA and MA and never came across a LPN who made less then CNAs nor MAs that I know of. As an MA, I did learn to draw blood which you will do as an LPN and RN. In the MA program and working as a MA, I learned to do EKGs,give shots, xrays, urinalysis,TB skin test, remove casts, take out staples, etc. so some of what LPN do, but LPN make more on an average than MAs. No question about RNs.

I just got my acceptance letter in the mail last week stating I was accepted into an LPN program here in my area and I start in January. And I've never been so excited to go back to school.

I've been a MA since 2005 and I will tell you, its tough getting in as a MA in hospitals or doctor offices. :yeah: So I'm going for nursing which is in higher demand than MA's. I was told back in 2004 while I was in school for Medical assistant and thats all the teachers preached "MAs will be your new LPNs, and LPN will no longer exist". :confused:Well, I don't see that happening as of yet and i was told that 5 years ago. maybe 20-30 years from now if that will be the case.

GOING OFF ON A TANGENT::twocents::offtopic:

This one MA job opportunity I did have, I had to interview twice for it before I was chosen. I don't know if he intentionally meant to reinterview me a year later. This one doctor i work with was too impatient to allow me more time to learn his ways since I had to learn how the 8 doctors and &7 PA's wanted things done,and my primary doctor who I was assigned to, meaning when he was in the office, I only worked for him, but he only came in 1 day a week and his surgical tech would show me what to do and how he wanted it done, but she rarely let me do it so when the time came:thnkg:, it appeared I was not learning, (now when I got fired, I only worked for him a total of 3 days in a whole month. :banghead: The CEO felt he shouldve gave me more time to learn his ways, since he was the most complicated doctor in the office, but it was not the CEO's call. :scrying:

So thats when I went back to being a CNA and gave up trying to work as a MA. :trc:I am more qualified anyway which may have intimidated the doctor's surgical tech as some have brought to my attention after giving my scenario to others of what I encountered.:smiley_ab I have a bachelors of science in health science, my major was community health education and MBA in Healthcare Management but had difficulty finding decent jobs with no experience (by the way, education means little to alot of employers, you gotta have that and experience and I'm speaking from experience).

Its so bad I don't include my degrees on my resumes so people wont automatically exclude me by considering me overqualified. I work as a CNA to get healthcare experience and I've gotten almost 2 years thanks to being a CNA. I advised all students considering MA programs to try the LPN or RN programs first. The money as a LPN or RN can be unlimited.:up:

Only catch to this, as an LPN or RN, you are going to in most cases work your butt off. LPNs are more clinical and on the floor type nurses and RN are considered the paper nurses, they do tons of paperwork which and be mentally draining. As an MA, the workload was not that stressful physically, and if you work for a humane doctor, it wont be mentally either. But with my luck in this horrible workforce, I'm ready for the challenge of being a

nurse.:bluecry1:

I plan to use the LPN credential as a stepping stone to becoming an RN, to a more advance level nurse and later retiring as a professor teaching nursing so I'll see how this all go over time.:typing

With all that said and done, its up to you and what you are ready for. Sorry for going off on such an extended tangent.:nurse:

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