Medical Assistants at Doctors Office

southern_rn_brat · Feb 4, 2005

ETA....

nobody, not one of them, in the doctor's office had on a name tag so you would know who and what they were.....think this is on purpose?

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Feb 4, 2005

What do yall think about medical assistants?

I think that they should wear badges with their name and medical assistant "clearly" on the badge. I realize this won't happen. Too many people get off on being called a nurse when they are not. I know of an MA who similarly bragged about being a nurse until she almost killed a child by giving him a injection of a medication at the adult dosage rather than calculated for a 2 year old. Those commercials really infuriate me. "I'm in the medical profession now and making good money" oh please.....give me a break! It's scary enough being a nurse when you do know what you're doing. The general public does not realize what a tremendous responsibility we take upon ourselves everytime we clock in. Unfortunately there are many things in this world that are never going to change and I believe this is one that won't. If my mother goes to the doctor and he orders blood work or an injection she tells him up front, "do not send in anyone but a nurse or a phebotimist". The nurse he can come up with, for blood work she ends up at the hospital. Go Mom!

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Feb 4, 2005

ETA....
nobody, not one of them, in the doctor's office had on a name tag so you would know who and what they were.....think this is on purpose?

I think it's called why pay for the cow when you can buy just the milk? or More money in the doctors pocket !

southern_rn_brat · Feb 4, 2005

I think it's called why pay for the cow when you can buy just the milk? or More money in the doctors pocket !

I thought it was very unprofessional! It is a requirement for our staff to wear name badges. It should be for them too:angryfire

southern_rn_brat · Feb 4, 2005

I think that they should wear badges with their name and medical assistant "clearly" on the badge. I realize this won't happen. Too many people get off on being called a nurse when they are not. I know of an MA who similarly bragged about being a nurse until she almost killed a child by giving him a injection of a medication at the adult dosage rather than calculated for a 2 year old. Those commercials really infuriate me. "I'm in the medical profession now and making good money" oh please.....give me a break! It's scary enough being a nurse when you do know what you're doing. The general public does not realize what a tremendous responsibility we take upon ourselves everytime we clock in. Unfortunately there are many things in this world that are never going to change and I believe this is one that won't. If my mother goes to the doctor and he orders blood work or an injection she tells him up front, "do not send in anyone but a nurse or a phebotimist". The nurse he can come up with, for blood work she ends up at the hospital. Go Mom!

You go, mom!!

mishayla96 · Feb 4, 2005

hey guys...sorry to butt in here :chuckle just want to tell you what i know about medical assistants, being one myself. no i am not a nurse (but hope to be one one day ) and i know that. i never claimed to be one although i am sure there are others who have... :uhoh21: i did go to school (college), for 18 months, and i was told that we were about equivelant to lpn's. i now know that is a bunch of bs they gave us to get us pepped up ( :angryfire ) i think, though, that we are above a cna but below an lpn. we learned in school (using a hotdog :chuckle) how to give injections subq, im, and id. (hope i abreviated those right, its been a while... :rolleyes: ) we also took a class in phlebotomy, got cpr certified, took a class in med. term, med. law and ethics, emergency procedures, pharmacology, ya know, stuff like that. (i have never gave meds nor would i want to at my current educational level.) baasically though, the only reason i wanted to reply to you guys was to say that one of the main reasons that i want to become an rn is because i love the medical field and helping patients, feeling good about what i do... (even though all i have really had a chance to do so far while working as an ma is do the vs and draw blood) and i want to further (the little bit of) knowlege that i recieved while in school for my ma degree. and yeah i totally agree with the fact that it is wrong for a ma to be letting her (unknowing) patients and family members think she is a nurse. i also agree that the reason ma's are at doc's offices are the cheapness of them (i was making $7.00 an hour!) oh well, theres my :twocents:

begalli · Feb 4, 2005

In defense of medical assistants who realize their role in healthcare...

I did a medical assisting program about 17-18 years ago. I stopped just short of being able to be certified because I had no interest in the "office" part of the program and I didn't want to do the year of general studies that was required for the AA degree. The program director was an RN. She was very proud of her program and made it clear that she was not graduating RN's, LVN's or anthing but Medical Assistants (which in and of itself was something to be proud of).

The instructors consisted of other RN's and licensed Medical Technologists. We had 3 quarters of medical terminology (one introductory class and two advanced classes); a Basic Patient Care class (medical asepsis, nutrition and diet therapy, vital signs, preparation of examining room and patient, assisting with various procedures); 2 quarters of Medical Communications (application of medical terminology, abbreviations, symbols, numbers, appropriate formats in medical typing/keyboarding, medical chart notes, history and physicals, consultations, and operative reports); 1 quarter of urinalysis (introduction to clinical laboratory, microbiology and diseases, urinalysis collection, microscopic and macroscopic examination of urine); 1 quarter of hematology (introduction to immunology and hematology technique, blood collection, hematocrit, white blood cell count and differential, preparation of blood smears, preservation, storage and mailing of blood samples); 2 quarters of Medical Law and Ethics (Medical ethics, medical practice acts, legal relationship of patient and physician, legal responsibilities of medical personnel, professional liability, physician's civic duties and arbitration); Medical Office Clinical Procedures (local application of heat and cold, medical office instruments, sterilization and disinfection of equipment and instruments, application of sterile gloves, assisting with minor surgery, and bandaging); Medical Office Diagnostic Procedures (electrocardiography, theory of assisting with physical therapy and x-ray therapy or diagnostic lab procedures and instructions); Medical Office First Aid, Pharmacology and Administration of Meds, Office Management, Transcription with even more advanced terminology, Office financial procedures, Coding, Reception, labs, labs, labs, and then at the end, a couple of different externships that lasted for 6 weeks each.

If you got through all of that, I just want to say that much of what is taught to a medical assistant is not taught as in-depth in nursing school such as terminology, phlebotomy, and EKG (task oriented things). I mean these things were taught in-depth!

If I were to have my blood drawn, I have NO problem with the person doing the dirty deed being an MA who graduated from a program like I mention. This experience for me was an excellent foundation on which to build my nursing career.

This was a community college associate degree and/or certificate program and not one of those fly-by-night schools that say you're a medical assistant in 6 weeks! The Medical Assisting program itself was 40 college units and could be completed alone (with a few additional pre-reqs) for a certification, or you could get the general ed units (I think it was a total of 50) and graduate with an AA. The AA took about 2 years (not counting the 50 GE's) full-time or 3+ years part-time.

I duuno, I think some MA's know their stuff and know their boundaries. Maybe they need more regulation in MA schools.

WHEW! Long post!

cjkes78 · Feb 4, 2005

I took the first semester of a MA program. And I have to say that I am glad I did. My medical term. course was very in depth. The school that I am taking my PN courses at doesn't offer its nursing students a med. term. class but it does offer it to those in the MA program.

That terminology class has helped me because now I can look at a word and break it down and know what it means, where as most of my classmates can't.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Feb 5, 2005

I took my stepson to the doctor. Everyone in the office is a medical assistant, NOT a nurse....but they all call themselves nurses and answer to "nurse" without correcting the patient.

If someone's (anyone) not an LPN or RN, then they're not a nurse, plain and simple. And should not be refering to themselves as such.

medical assistant3 · Oct 10, 2008

Where is the respect people? Do not judge Medical Assistants and their skills...It is true that there are programs out there that are a short cut to get an MA position. NO WE ARE NOT NURSES. I do do not label myself that way at all. The MA's who do are probably JUST PROUD TO BE ABLE TO HELP PEOPLE. ...look..there are several ways to become a MA. The programs that offer a few weeks to train are not a smart thing to do. this gives you less training,less skills,less opportunity to advance and less pay.... Going to a private college is key. I WENT TO A COLLEGE AND EARNED AN ASSOCIATES DEGREE. If I walk into a patients room to give and injection or draw blood...I KNOW HOW TO DO IT, I HAVE THE SKILLS AND EDUCATION..NURSES ARE TRAINED THE SAME...I HAVE TAKEN PHLEBOTOMY AND I AM VERY PROFFICIENT,MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY, ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY,PHARMACOLOGY,MEDICAL MATH,MEDICAL CODING,ETC...... i WAS A STRAIGHT "a" STUDENT, DEANS LIST,PRESIDENTS LIST.. I HAVE DONE CLINICAL PROCEDURES, EXTERNSHIPS...NURSES ARE TRAINED EXTENSIVELY IN LONG TERM CARE AND MORE. WHICH IS WHY THEY ARE MORE IMPORTANT AND ARE PAID BETTER. IT REALLY HURTS MY FEELINGS FOR A PATIENT TO LOOK AT ME AND SAY "NO, YOUR NOT TOUCHING ME,NO YOUR NOT DRAWING MY BLOOD,"NO YOUR NOT GIVING ME THAT SHOT..GET A NURSE!" MY SCHOOL ALSO HELPED ME GET A VERY HIGH PAYING JOB BEFORE I EVEN GRADUATED. I AM NOW TAKING CLASSES TO FURTHER MY EDUCATION...I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO BECOME RN NICU. I'M ALSO A PROUD MOTHER OF 3.. PLEASE COMMENT BACK :argue: :cry:

medical assistant3 · Oct 10, 2008

Very rude..very rude....I have an Associates Degree as a MA. I AM NOT A NURSE. I went to college for two years..externships,phlebotomy,medical terminology,,and much more. I am very good at my job. And I love it. THE REAL PROBLEM IS PEOPLE DON'T RESPECT US. The reality is that there are doc offices who train on the job, 3 week programs.etc. These are not good enough... many of you are witnessing this first hand when you visit a doc office that some MA's are not skilled and educated enough. By attending college I recieved a hell of alot more training ,skills and education. I participated in externships and clinical procedures. I was a straight "A" student and I am extremely proud to be an MA. Before graduating my school found me a great paying job..15 an hour. It puts food on the table for my kids..and I am now getting ready to start schooling again..I want to be an RN NICU. I am a mother of 3 and I have worked very hard. Please respect us. We are here to take care of you. :saint: