Needing some advice from a GI Nurse

Specialties Gastroenterology

Published

Hello !

I am a Medical Assistant at an OIC at an infectious disease office. Infusing antibiotics. Not only do I take vitals, input labs, draw labs etc etc. The practice also paid for me to get IV certified, to start PIV within their scope of practice.

I love my job, however, I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at the age of 14. Which is what caught my interest in the medical field to begin with. I am wanting to go back to school for RN. Which I know will be in a couple of years until I graduate. My desire is to work at a sugery center. Assisting in colonoscopies etc.... So in the mean time, as I am going to school and being an MA. I want to take advantage and try to get my foot in the door. So I guess my question is, what type of office could I work at, being a medical assistant, to make my way into a surgery center as an RN once I finish school. Thanks!

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Your current skills and educational goals are great. You can start applying right now to any GI clinic (that only does endoscopies), and a surgical clinic that does out patient surgeries and endoscopies. Both these types of clinics use MA's, at least all the ones I am familiar with?

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Thank you for the responce! I need to start making a resume & researching open positions. I will try these places in my area. Thank you!!

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An Office-Based Surgery GI practice would be a good place to start - typically no weekends or holidays and set hours to allow for school. You'd most likely be in the rooms assisting with procedures and cleaning scopes (which you can also get certified in The Official CBSPD Website - www.sterileprocessing.org - The Authority in SPD Certification). Even if they don't hire you for their endoscopy suite right away, you would gain a lot of experience learning the pathophysiology of GI just from working in a GI practice. MAs assist in endoscopy most of the time, with an anesthesiologist, the GI doc and a RN in the room.

If you really want to make your way to an ambulatory surgery center after that, go for it, but typically it's more "formal" and incredibly more busy and demanding, so I would start with a practice if you can. Once you get to more complicated procedures with hospital procedures and stuff like ECRPs you'll be hooked!

Good luck!

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Thank you very much for that information that I had no idea about. :) I will take notes & aim head on! & thank you for the website. I am egger now to start! .. & seems like you are a very good Nurse. God bless.

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No worries - GI has opened a whole new world to me, I'm in love! Thanks for the compliment and wishing you the best of luck.

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