MA's Calling themselves Nurses

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this is my second year trying to get into nursing school and it just chaps my butt when i go to my daughters md and the ma's call themselves nurses. i mean i am now finished will all my prereqs and these ladies, who are probably good ma's don't have to have anything but ojt.

and also are there limitations on what an ma can do. i took my daughter to get some shots and i was surprised when the ma administered them. can she do that?

Specializes in LDRP.

How is it that a MA can answer nurse calls, when here at least, LPN"s can't even do that? (it is considered triage, so they can't do it which is what i was told)

Educationally, MA's are not equal to nurses.

I haven't run into any MA's in dr's offices i go to (though at one i've been to, there is a PA who is referred to as "doctor" and doesn't correct it). so i can't really say anything from personal experience.

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If I was to come up to a MA and they presented themselves as a nurse, I wouldn't go running off to the BON right off the bat! I would simply let them know that representing themselves as a nurse isn't ethical or moral, that is not true, that it is impersonation, and yes..they can get into legal/criminal trouble! I would talk to them first giving them the benifit of the doubt that maybe they don't know, or somone before them said it was okay!

They probably don't know all these things about titles, education, legal issues, ethical issues. I've met RN from another country who was so intimidated by the doctor she worked for, she was doing things that she wasn't supposed to do - she found a way out.

Yes, because apparently nurses are the only people in the world that are educated. What a condescending, arrogant statement.

Lorraine

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I made a huge mistake back in the 80's of going to MA school instead of nursing school, finally rectified that mistake, and the difference is HUGE! MA school teaches alot, it could be a pre-req actually for nursing school. MA's know nothing of the nursing practice of assess, plan, intervention, evaluation, etc. Anyway, last week I had a pt who had a very complicated foot surgery. While moving her IV, a visiting friend asked her if she also does this, and she stated she only does venipuncture. Then she admitted she works for one of the GI docs on staff in his private office. I knew then she was an MA. Well, said doc comes in to visit her, then comes to the nurse's station and tells me to take very good care of her as she is the best "nurse" in his office. So, I realized then that doctors so often treat hospital nurses badly because if you are a doctor, you do not need to concern yourself with the respect nurses deserve, if they are less than a doctor, they are all lumped in the same category.

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I made a huge mistake back in the 80's of going to MA school instead of nursing school, finally rectified that mistake, and the difference is HUGE! MA school teaches alot, it could be a pre-req actually for nursing school. MA's know nothing of the nursing practice of evaluation, intervention, etc. Anyway, last week I had a pt who had a very complicated foot surgery. While moving her IV, a visiting friend asked her if she also does this, and she stated she only does venipuncture. Then she admitted she works for one of the GI docs on staff in his private office. I knew then she was an MA. Well, said doc comes in to visit her, then comes to the nurse's station and tells me to take very good care of her as she is the best "nurse" in his office. So, I realized then that doctors so often treat hospital nurses badly because if you are a doctor, you do not need to concern yourself with the respect nurses deserve,

"if they are less than a doctor, they are all lumped in the same category."

And isn't that the exact same thing you nurses are doing?

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Lorraine, I did not mean to offend you in any way, I applaud anyone going to school. My mistake was paying twice as much for a tech school than it would have cost me to go to nursing school. Nurses have a greater scope of opportunities, greater pay scale, and it truly is a different education and practice from that of the MA. If you enjoy your career, congratulations. If you decide to go further, you have that knowledge to draw from in nursing school. The thing about this field is we are NEVER finished. There is always the next degree to pursue. But, you must understand, from one who has done both, it is entirely different, medical assistants certainly have their place, but they know nothing of what the nursing "practice" entails. Please do not be offended.

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I don't understand. What difference does it make? I admit nursing school is hard and strenuous to have the letters behind your name. But a nurse is what you always will be. I just have to trust my PCP and his office staff, I don't think there is very much that they can do that would endanger my life. I have had all of my immunizations and if I should need IV fluids he can send me to the ER. I can understand how hard it is for CMA's to explain to every single person what they are. Some older people don't understand how differentiated healthcare has become; it's just easier to say "nurse". It is very easy these days for people to wear a uniform and look like a nurse. It takes time as a nurse to point these people out. Nurses know other nurses. I don't know why. As far a notifying the BON, I think that's a little extreme. Especially if a CMA is in a supervised environment. For those who have had no education at all and calling themself a nurse, that's a different story:uhoh3:

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How is it that a MA can answer nurse calls, when here at least, LPN"s can't even do that? (it is considered triage, so they can't do it which is what i was told)

Educationally, MA's are not equal to nurses.

I haven't run into any MA's in dr's offices i go to (though at one i've been to, there is a PA who is referred to as "doctor" and doesn't correct it). so i can't really say anything from personal experience.

From what I understand, (I'm still in school) the office has a procedure manual pretty much stating what type of calls take priority in detail. I.E. these symptoms rate here on the scheduling list, etc. I don't know if that falls into triaging, there is probably a thin line there. As far as education, you're right. We are not trained in disease processes or anything that in depth. We are trained for the technical aspects of the job, not assessment, diagnosis, etc. Like I said before, we are different than nurses and don't claim to be the same.

To be perfectly honest, considering the condescending and arrogant attitude of most of the posters on this subject, I'd be embarrassed to say I was a nurse.

Lorraine

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Lorraine, I am not sure I understand who has been condescending to you. Could it be that you are feeling insecure? Let me just state, doctors do not like nurses calling themselves doctors, and nurses do not like medical assistants calling themselves nurses. It is all withing the scope of not representing yourself as something you do not have the education or license to represent yourself as, okay? Stating that fact has nothing to do with a lack of respect, just fact. And for the record, nurses really do deserve a great deal of respect, and I hope you will understand all the reasons why someday.

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What is really sad of all this is the fact that this has become a whole mentallity of having a kids argueement of "My daddy can beat up your daddy", "My Butt is nicer than yours!" , My boyfriend is better than yours" Oh how I could go on. Hopefully you get the point

Just because you are a LPN or RN or what ever DOES NOT make you better than anyone YOU have in your head is lesser than you. I have seen RN think they are better than doctors... LPN think they are better than RNs... Fast Food Cashier better than the dishwasher.

Point being we all have our amount of education some more than others. Doesnt mean you have to walk around with your nose in the air thinking your better than someone else.

Insecure? No just fed up with childish arguements

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Lorraine, I am not sure I understand who has been condescending to you. Could it be that you are feeling insecure? Let me just state, doctors do not like nurses calling themselves doctors, and nurses do not like medical assistants calling themselves nurses. It is all withing the scope of not representing yourself as something you do not have the education or license to represent yourself as, okay? Stating that fact has nothing to do with a lack of respect, just fact. And for the record, nurses really do deserve a great deal of respect, and I hope you will understand all the reasons why someday.

thank you. We all have our roles. No one is "better" than the next, but an MA is not a nurse and for her to say so it is misprepresentation, pure and simple, and possibly illegal. That is all we are saying; no one is condescending to anyone else here.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
To be perfectly honest, considering the condescending and arrogant attitude of most of the posters on this subject, I'd be embarrassed to say I was a nurse.

Nice :rolleyes:

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Lorraine, I did not mean to offend you in any way, I applaud anyone going to school. My mistake was paying twice as much for a tech school than it would have cost me to go to nursing school. Nurses have a greater scope of opportunities, greater pay scale, and it truly is a different education and practice from that of the MA. If you enjoy your career, congratulations. If you decide to go further, you have that knowledge to draw from in nursing school. The thing about this field is we are NEVER finished. There is always the next degree to pursue. But, you must understand, from one who has done both, it is entirely different, medical assistants certainly have their place, but they know nothing of what the nursing "practice" entails. Please do not be offended.

I know perfectly well what the nursing "practice" entails, which in part is why I decided I didn't want to go the nursing route. Let's take LTC for instance since that's the arena I'm familiar with.

One LPN per wing, 3 or 4 CNA's under you, some are there because they genuinely love the work, some because with less than a months training, they're making 11.00 an hour. Anything that happens on your shift is your responsibility, your license on the line. Add to that short-staffing, admin breathing down your neck and resident's families. You're responsible for 30-40 residents care that in all actuality, you have laid eyes on for MAYBE 10 minutes that shift during med pass.

Thanks but no thanks. I consciously made the decision that I didn't need that kind of you-know-what in my life. I'd imagine the hospital scenario isn't much different.

Yes, it is a different education and different practice than nursing (especially when you get into RN and up). However, it's just different. You can't even say it's "not as good" as nursing because for the role it was designed to fill, it's better. A nurse can't walk into a large practice and fill a MA's shoes just the same as a MA can't fill the nurses shoes. Could you imagine a doctor throwing a floor nurse into his office and saying "take care of the insurance, billing, scheduling, etc." (as well as the back office practice). I DO take offense at the posters who assume we're "uneducated" just because we're not educated the same way.

I've worked with some wonderful nurses. I've also worked with some nurses who thought the title "nurse" made them above getting their little hands dirty.

Unless someone is blatantly misrepresenting themselves as a nurse, why all the hoopla? We know we're not nurses. Most of us don't WANT to be nurses. We chose this field because we enjoy both front and back office work. If the doctor refers to me as a "nurse" in front of a patient, how many times do you think the doctor is going to appreciate me "correcting" him in front of a patient? If a patient calls me a nurse, I will correct him/her politely.

I am and will be VERY WELL educated for the role I'm designed to fulfill. Oh, BTW...you're right about the opportunities for RN's. LPN's here in the hospitals however, start out at 12.00 an hour and max out at about 15.00. Isn't that a shame? All that stress for such a pittance. I figure I'll have half the stress for 95% of the wages. LPN positions are also listed on the major hospital networks here under "technical" positions instead of nursing, which rather surprised me.

Lorraine

CNA

future CMA

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