Medical assistants and LPNs

Nurses LPN/LVN

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HI all,

I have just finished a medical assisting program and im now looking for a job. I have noticed alot of job openings for lpn but nothing for medical assistants. I was wondering first of all what is the difference? I can pretty much do everything an lpn can do. I was wondering if I applied to lpn positions would I be a candidate for lpn positions or would I be wasting my time? Please somebody answer my question I would greatly appreciate the advice.

Specializes in medical assistant.

DANG EVERYBODY---CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?!?!? :banghead:

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Most classified ads in my metro city read, "LPN or CMA". It is the doctor's offices that place these ads! I do believe this thread has exhausted itself. A lot of great opinions/facts/views! My great pet peeve is the nurse practitioners I work with. All four refer to themselves as DOCTORS but I guess that is fodder for another thread!

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Specializes in LPN.
Most classified ads in my metro city read, "LPN or CMA". It is the doctor's offices that place these ads!

True, but this is also about money. An LPN who works in a doctor's office will be paid as an MA, which in my area is about half as much. Doctor's offices usually just staff MA's. What they are saying by advertising "LPN or MA" isn't that they see them as equivalent, but that they want someone who is more educated yet willing to work for less pay. MA's are really the standard for doctor's offices and clinics.

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Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

i agree.. lets part our ways in agreement that thsi issue will never be settled . feel free to shut it down...

dang everybody---can't we all just get along?!?!? :banghead:
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Specializes in STaff Nurse Hospital, ED, L&D,.

I currently have both and in a hospital there is not much a CMA can do. But if a doctor decides, (CMA's work under the doctors license) a CMA can do anything the doctor teaches them. But finding that doctor is not easy. Mostly it is vitals and rooming patients, if your lucky, blood draws and injections.

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I never said that CMAs "give assessments, plans of care, or patient teaching." That is a nurse's role. I clearly stated that that the role of a nurse (specifically LPN) and CMA are different. But it seemed that the general feeling here was that CMAs (which DO have a national certification body (the AAMA), to address someone else's comment) are basically unqualified and/or uneducated. That is just not the case. Are CMAs nurses? Absolutely not. But they professionals in the healthcare field, and ought to be treated as so. Like I said, it really depends on the state and the school you attend. The MA program at my school is 4 terms of full-time study, with clinicals during 3 of the terms. MAs are trained to do quite a lot.

You listed a bunch of things that MA's can do and included hospitals in your list of places where CMA's work, and it seemed to imply that CMA's were giving meds in a hospital setting. This is the part that needed to be cleared up. Also it isn't just about the length of the training, it is about the breadth and depth and legal responsibility. I'm starting to agree with others that this topic is getting old.

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Specializes in I think I've done it all.

I see assistants in offices that pretty much function as LPNs, and I've also seen in assisted living where the aides pass meds, which bothers me. Why aren't LPNs as organzed a group as RN's are? ! LPNs have to be licensed to do a lot of things and to have an unlicensed person doing it makes our license that much less important. If LPNs started being trained to do more RN functions, you can bet there'd be an uproar!

This is just my opinion and observation.

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Specializes in medical assistant.
I see assistants in offices that pretty much function as LPNs, and I've also seen in assisted living where the aides pass meds, which bothers me. Why aren't LPNs as organzed a group as RN's are? ! LPNs have to be licensed to do a lot of things and to have an unlicensed person doing it makes our license that much less important. If LPNs started being trained to do more RN functions, you can bet there'd be an uproar!

This is just my opinion and observation.

SO TRUE!!

BUT AGAIN, WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?!:no:

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Specializes in I think I've done it all.

We could all get along if things were the same across the board all the way around. Then everyone would have the same expectations and thus set their goals accordingly.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

Again, I don't think that anyone is saying that medical assistants are not valuable members of the medical community. They perform a service that is needed. There are good ones and bad ones, the same as all levels of nursing. What people are saying is that they are not regulated, and are not licensed, and that is a fact that does not change. A person cannot learn on their own to be a nurse, or be hired off of the street to have hands on training to be a nurse. They had to attend a vocational/technical school and take a state board to practice.

What I am seeing here is that there are various ways to start working as a medical assistant; some are formal, others are not. If I were able to get on the job training to become a medical assistant, I wouldn't invest a dime into my education, either. Some of them pay thousands of dollars to become one, and many are unable to find jobs. That is unfair to them and misleading. It seems that their certification does not have to require recipcracy from one state to another, some courses are shorter than others which equals to no regulations. I can also say at this point that we are beating a dead horse.

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You listed a bunch of things that MA's can do and included hospitals in your list of places where CMA's work, and it seemed to imply that CMA's were giving meds in a hospital setting. This is the part that needed to be cleared up. Also it isn't just about the length of the training, it is about the breadth and depth and legal responsibility. I'm starting to agree with others that this topic is getting old.

Oh, whoops! I didn't mean to imply that CMAs give meds in a hospital setting...like on the unit floor with nurses. Because they don't. Here, CMAs work in hospitals in outpatient units/centers ONLY; giving meds in a hospital is restricted to in-office proceedures under the direct supervision of an MD.

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Specializes in A little of this & a little of that.

Angela, laws for Medical Assistants vary widely by state. States where the nursing shortage is worst, like Alaska as mentioned, have much braoader roles forMA's. Where there are more nursing schools, like the Northeast, roles are more limited. Overall, if the position you are looking at is in an office, clinic or lab, it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. You wouldn.t be able to take a job in a nursing home or most hospitals as this is not what you are trained for, a licensed nurse is required. However, many hospitals hire "Patient Care Technicians" and the requirements vary by hospital, but you would probably meet them in most places. Do not give up, there is a good job out there for you. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. People should not generalize about laws. They vary. Here is a link to the State of CT's policy on Medical Assistants. BTW, CT is also unfair to LPN's as well. http://www.ct.gov/dph/cwp/view.asp?a=3121&q=389366&dphNav_GID=1821

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