My Dr.s "nurse" is a MA playing nurse.

[embracedone]

The MA at my PCPS office often refers to herself as "the nurse " This is so comm ok n here that I hustling try to ignore it. Yesterday after my visit with the PA I had some questions for him regarding post op pain control for upcoming surgical extractions of four molars. As she started to give me some grossly inaccurate advice ,I asked if she could possibly ask the Dr.since in the past they had given me different advice. I stood to the side of the desk, she could not see me. She never left her chair or picked up a phone but when she came back to me she told me she had spoken with the PA & he said the same thing, take Aleve or Advil. " its not gonna make the pain go all the way gone but it will cut it a little." She was not going to let me see the PA or relay my questions. Beside her outright lying, is she allowed to provide medication instruction not given to her by a physician? This is not the 1st time or 1st office I've seen this happen.

[caliotter3]

I would make it a point to inform the provider. If the provider supports this behavior, probably time to seek another provider.

[bugya90, ASN, BSN, LVN, RN]

Depending on the state and employer MAs are delegates by a supervising physician on what they are allowed to do. In my clinic the MAs cannot give any type of medical advice. They can take vitals and fill in standard questionnaires in the chart but cannot give out any advice or do any triage, those are solely the responsibility of the licenses nurses. I would definitely report it to the provider and to patient relations that you specifically asked her to clarify with the provider and you then witnessed her blantly ignore your request and then lie to you about it. I would also refuse to have this MA involved in your care and request that another MA or nurse handle your care.

[hayest]

"bugya90" -- great reply. You replied with a factual answer. Also in our area, if the physician is not in the office, the MA's are only allowed to take vitals and collect urine and sputum. They are not allowed to do any other testing or administer any injections without direct supervision. Unfortunately, the MA's perform a lot of duties without direct supervision. They administer injections and will draw labs and perform other tests on patients. They do triage and should not. They definitely do not have a book with questions to ask a patient who would call in with a problem. They always call themselves nurses, which is against the law in all states and if reported the office can be fined and closed for a period of time. I would also suggest finding another provider or inform your provider that you will not have any contact with the staff.

[hayest]

Turn the office into the State Board of Healing Arts. It's illegal for an MA to indicate they are a nurse, not to mention giving advice, etc.

[Livetoride]

Turn the office into the State Board of Healing Arts. It's illegal for an MA to indicate they are a nurse, not to mention giving advice, etc.

That's what I thought too.

[downsouthlaff, LPN]

I think it's real difficult to understand the differences between an MA and a LPN/RN in a physician office or clinic to the general public. Members of the general public without a knowledge of healthcare will assume the one taking there blood pressure or giving them injections is the nurse.

As a Nurse myself, I personally don't see anything wrong with the medical assistants role in a clinic or office. MA programs and traininhgenerally focus on office procedures and technical skill.

But what MAs must understand is they are not Nurses. Technical skill is not what makes the nurse. What makes a nurse a nurse is theory and assessment skills, nursing judgement, accountability with licensure. Nurses get loads of theory on many disease processes, medications, interventions and then get tested by a very challenging licensing exam called NCLEX. Nursing is its own established practice separate from medicine. RNs are independent Practitioners of nursing and LPN/LVNs are practitioners of nursing who practice nursing under the direct or indirect supervision of an RN. But to be a "Nurse" one must be an LPN or RN licensed to practice nursing.

An MA is a skill focused trained assistant for the day to day operations of a providers office. When they work outside of the office they are UAPs to licensed nursing staff.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

You're familiar with the verbiage of every Bon in the nation? I think not. As you're not a nurse, are you even familiar with the wording of the Bon in your own state?

"bugya90" -- great reply. You replied with a factual answer. Also in our area, if the physician is not in the office, the MA's are only allowed to take vitals and collect urine and sputum. They are not allowed to do any other testing or administer any injections without direct supervision. Unfortunately, the MA's perform a lot of duties without direct supervision. They administer injections and will draw labs and perform other tests on patients. They do triage and should not. They definitely do not have a book with questions to ask a patient who would call in with a problem. They always call themselves nurses, which is against the law in all states and if reported the office can be fined and closed for a period of time. I would also suggest finding another provider or inform your provider that you will not have any contact with the staff.