Ok, we've just switched doctors under our medical plan. So I go in for a routine checkup, etc. at this clinic. They tell me the nurse will be with me shortly. Of course, since I'm a student, I always ask nurses how they like their jobs etc. So I ask: You're a nurse, right? She nods. How do you like the job ... blah, blah blah ... Not once did she correct me. Then I ask where she went to school. When she names the school, I'm confused because I've never heard of it.
That's when she says, "Oh ... I'm an MA."
Then the doctor comes in, and tells me "the nurse will be with you shortly." I'm like ... what nurse? Then I find out that everybody at the "Nurses Station" is actually an MA, but everyone, from the receptionist to the doctors, are referring to these MA's as nurses. My husband, who has to go in fairly frequently, says they told him the same thing ... that these MA's were nurses.
Now, I don't know if there's actually anything wrong with this, and maybe this isn't a big deal but, it seemed really weird to me. I've been to other doctor's offices where the staff was very careful to tell me they were MA's, not nurses. Especially when I asked if they were a nurse or not.
Any thoughts? Is this allowed? Why would even doctors refer to MA's as nurses?
it's sad about medical assisting. i think the medical assisting programs are a rip off. it is an excuse for a doctor or clinic pay someone 8 bucks an hour rather than 16 or 20 an hour. i would rather spend two years getting a rn degree at a tech school rather than a two year degree in medical assisting. the top pay that you can make in my state as a CMA is like 10 bucks an hour.
I caught an assistant, who had been trained to draw blood, collecting a blood gas on one of my pts. She's worked here in the ER 6yrs and is very good at drawing blood. But, not only are they not supposed to do blood gasses, but she was trying to hide it from me (I walked around the corner and caught her coming out with the blood). What if I had gone in and drawn the ABG again? (pt was elderly, confused, no family). Who was going to assess the site? :angryfire Would I have been held responsible for any complication? This aide had never done it before. RN's are allowed to do blood gasses - if we cant get it, then respiratory gets it, if they cant get it - then the Doc will do it. I made a big stink about it. If she got in trouble, I wouldnt know. She's still working here. This person has a bad attitude towards nurses - jealousy. She's claims she going to nursing school. When cornered, she's taking a math and english cass.!
We had a pt develop a clot from getting ABG done in radial. She almost lost her arm -had to have surgery. FYI: the surgeons said that the radial should be the very last site to try. (Another RN had gotten it - didnt report to next shift).
Actually I never once called myself a nurse when I was an MA and corrected everyone that did. However, I was doing things that I should not have been doing, but I didn't know any better. I started doing this when I was 20 years old and was doing what the physicians trained me to do and was told by them that I could do. My MA program was 18 months long (14 months classroom, 4 months clinical) and it cost me $10,000 in student loans for that 18 months. I am now attending a major top 10 University in the country and my tuition is less than that. I would really love to go into high schools and educate people on programs like this. I do not regret becomming an MA first because I have gained quite a bit of knowledge that has helped me out so much in nursing school. My MA degree also led to a phleb position in a hospital where I worked for 4 years which has also helped me out a geat deal. It is just a shame that the people entering these programs are being mislead and ripped off. Then the doctors offices are also using them for cheap labor. I truly think that most MA's just do what the Doc's train and tell them to do without even thinking about it. They honestly don't know any better. I actually feel bad for most of them, I have been there and now I am starting to see another side from a nursing stand point. Very sad.
Actually I never once called myself a nurse when I was an MA and corrected everyone that did. However, I was doing things that I should not have been doing, but I didn't know any better. I started doing this when I was 20 years old and was doing what the physicians trained me to do and was told by them that I could do. My MA program was 18 months long (14 months classroom, 4 months clinical) and it cost me $10,000 in student loans for that 18 months. I am now attending a major top 10 University in the country and my tuition is less than that. I would really love to go into high schools and educate people on programs like this. I do not regret becomming an MA first because I have gained quite a bit of knowledge that has helped me out so much in nursing school. My MA degree also led to a phleb position in a hospital where I worked for 4 years which has also helped me out a geat deal. It is just a shame that the people entering these programs are being mislead and ripped off. Then the doctors offices are also using them for cheap labor. I truly think that most MA's just do what the Doc's train and tell them to do without even thinking about it. They honestly don't know any better. I actually feel bad for most of them, I have been there and now I am starting to see another side from a nursing stand point. Very sad.
well said jen2. i have an A.A.S. degree in medical assisting and also had to pay back 10k. my 4 year nursing degree didn't even cost that much per year. when you are in MA school they rarely even talk about scope of practice for MA's or RN's so you won't know any better until you get out there and start working. i learned alot in MA school and it opened doors for me that enabled me to finish my nursing degree, but i would tell anyone to NOT go to school for medical assisting. not because of working conditions or lousy pay, but because it is an unsafe profession that can put you at risk of harming a patient. most MA's work in offices M-F, no weekends or holidays and this is what attracts most people to it, but they quickly learn that they are a less expensive alternative for a nurse. i worked in physicians offices for 1.5 years before starting my nursing degree the rest of my time as a MA was in the hospital environment where RN's and LPN's were responsible for delegating the appropriate task to me, which made me alot more comfortable with my role and exposed me to what "real" nurses do. if i could do it over again i would have been an LPN first and then a RN. i would have at least been in school the same amount of time for less money and learned things the right way.
I have read the threads concerning the misrepresentation of RN's and LPN's in the healthcare field. I am an ER clerk and have NEVER been confused over my title or tried to inflate that I am anything more or less. One of the ER docs stated that when he had a family practice he had a lady that worked for him several years that was not a nurse, but he trained personally and felt confident in her abilities.
In my job description, it states that I work under the direction of the RN or physician that is on duty. The nursing manager said that I could do anything that is NOT INVASIVE. I have an associate degree in business with a major in medical administration. I am fortunate to work with some very professional RN's that do NOT think they are any better then me. We work as a team, and I respect their positon and dedication to patient care. But, I would never do anything illegal or unethical to compromise that, and they would not expect me too.
In all fairness, just because you have RN or LPN behind your name does not make you a NURSE either. I have seen many in the past make med errors, come to work after being out partying all night, and in my opinoin should not hold that title.(In all fairness, those slackers do not work in our department anymore.)
I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....
I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...
In all fairness, just because you have RN or LPN behind your name does not make you a NURSE either. I have seen many in the past make med errors, come to work after being out partying all night, and in my opinoin should not hold that title.(In all fairness, those slackers do not work in our department anymore.)
Yes, as a matter of fact it does. Some, as you noted, may choose to behave in an immature or unprofessional manner, and that is unfortunate - No argument there. But they are still nurses no matter who likes it or who doesn't. They have still received the education, passed the exams, earned the title, and are still licensed by the state to practice as nurses. Poor behavior is individual and you will find it in ANY profession. I know cardiac and neurosurgeons who stay out partying all night as well. As long as they don't hurt my patients, their personal lives are none of my business. Unfortunately, no one is immune to errors. Not even the teetotalers
They have still received the education, passed the exams, earned the title, and are still licensed by the state to practice as nurses. Poor behavior is individual and you will find it in ANY profession.
I recently spoke to an office manager who runs a two-doc practice in my hometown. He knows I do some consulting and teach telephone triage and proceeded to tell me that the office only hires new MAs and they "are ouroffice nurses". I asked him who handles telephone advice, reporting lab work, and calling in controlled scripts. He told me the MA's do it!!!
I must have looked as absolutely incredulous as I felt because his hasty reply was that "we keep a close eye on them so they don't make mistakes". I was so utterly disgusted by this it was hard for me to keep a civil tone. I informed him that nursing care is regulated by the BON in every state and that telephone triage in a NURSE ONLY task and is actually stated to be an RN task. I told him that some offices do us MA's and some use LVN's but if a lawsuit or bad outcome is ever based on wrong advice given by their office staff they will lose and lose big time because they are not following the recommended standard of care.
Since this was a social event I knew I needed to move on so I quickly wished him "good luck", introduced him to a nurse attrny who was near by explaining to him what we had just been talking about. And I left this poor office manager in the grip of a ferocious defender of the nursing reputation...I saw the office manager later looking pale and stunned and realized I might just actually LIKE some lawyers!!!
IF you hold an active nursing license by the state, Rn or LPN then yes you are a nurse. You could be a BAD nurse but still be, by definition, a nurse. There will always be in any profession, those who do not take their jobs seriously. No one is saying RN/LPN is "better" than MA, just inherently different.
To possess a nursing license, in general, signifies that one is capable of a certain number of minimum compentencies AND legally able to perform specific duties within a scope of practice. Nurses who are not proven to be able to function at this level soon lose licensure. I was pretty darned mad when the MA at my cardiologist's office insisted on calling herself a nurse, even after I told I was one. She stated that she gives IV meds if there's a code, gives procedure results on the phone to pts (she called me for mine), etc. However, when I asked her the typical presentations for R and L heart failure, SHE DIDN'T KNOW. :angryfire She didn't even know the right ranges for normal vital signs. Now I am very non-partisan in the contentious world of nursing accronymns ( I don't tell anyone what type of degree I have and I don't see why it matters) HOWEVER this really took the cake. I had no choice but to change cardiologists.
Someone I know has a mom who is a "nurse". I asked her one day "what is your mom, an LPN or an RN??" she said "oh, she's not any of that , she's just a nurse"
?????????
LOL!!!!!! I think we need to buy the general public a clue!
Speaking of unprofessional behavior.......I knew a surgeon who was the typical rude, arrogant *** who frequently abused nurses for (alleged) incompetence and unprofessionalism. He thought he was so hightly respected.
However, we throughly enjoyed it when he ended up an ICU patient himself....for an overdose of cocaine. He more than deserved the ridicule he brought on for himself!
Yes, as a matter of fact it does. Some, as you noted, may choose to behave in an immature or unprofessional manner, and that is unfortunate - No argument there. But they are still nurses no matter who likes it or who doesn't. They have still received the education, passed the exams, earned the title, and are still licensed by the state to practice as nurses. Poor behavior is individual and you will find it in ANY profession. I know cardiac and neurosurgeons who stay out partying all night as well. As long as they don't hurt my patients, their personal lives are none of my business. Unfortunately, no one is immune to errors. Not even the teetotalers
LPN-n-2005
106 Posts
it's sad about medical assisting. i think the medical assisting programs are a rip off. it is an excuse for a doctor or clinic pay someone 8 bucks an hour rather than 16 or 20 an hour. i would rather spend two years getting a rn degree at a tech school rather than a two year degree in medical assisting. the top pay that you can make in my state as a CMA is like 10 bucks an hour.