Nurse Massage Therapy

[nurseyperson]

Hello! This new forum is for anyone interested in massage, nursing and the combination. I am an RN working mostly ICU, Neo ICU and ER (all prn), a former

travel nurse and wife and Mom. I am currently taking classes for Medical Massage Therapy. Anyone who is a massage therapist, nurse interested in it, or wanting information to benefit you patients is invited to post.

There are different types of massage therapy. There is the mostly widely known Swedish massage with oils. The kind I do is with clothes on, no oils and is medially based. It is a combination of trigger point therapy, neuromuscular reeducation, myofascial release, soft tissue mobilization, manual lymph drainage, acupressure, to name a few aspects of it. Add in nutritional support, and a nurse's knowledge and common sense and I can help most people in some way or another. The whole idea is to balance the systems and regions of the body, especially effective with neuromuscularskeletal dysfunctions. I use the GUT Method, which was developed by Elena Goetzel after years of "putting it all together". Very interesting!!! and effective!!

So.... let's talk!!!

------------------

nurseyperson

[chingy1206]

Can anyone recommend a good massage therapy school in Orlando, Fl?

[newbieRC]

I have a B.S in Kinesiology and am about to finish a COMTA accredited Massage Therapy School. I've been told that I would be awesome as a nurse but don't know what the next steps are. Should I get an Associates, an LPN or 2nd BS degree? What will "work" in order to become a "Rehab Nurse" or a "Nurse Massage Therapist", is this the same thing?

[ashdee]

HI I am not yet a nurse. I am wating to get into my lvn program due to the lottery system. I have allready waited a year and fear it my be 3yrs before I get a spot. So in the mean time I have been looking for another type of job thats not min wage and will be at least some what healthcare orianted. I have looked in to hospital based massage programs but in my area (northern California) the hospitals have no job posts. My first question is will there be openings that are only within, after I become a lvn I will have acess to. Does anyone know if you are a hospital employee, if its union. Any info would be helpfull especially if from california. thanks

[shellfrmmo, ASN, BSN, LPN, LVN, RN]

Is anyone on here? I am very interested in Nursing and massage therapy and herbal stuff. I just don't know where to get started. I am an RN. Let me know if you are still out there to talk!!!

[email protected]

[AmberAlertRN]

Hello to all! I am curious to hear the latest statistics on RN Massage Therapy. Has this field been hit hard by the economic downturn; has there been a noticeable change to insurance reimbursement? Are there any RN massage therapists able to share if they would recommend an established nurse, like myself, to begin a new career in massage therapy? Really appreciate all your feedback, thank you. -Columbus, Ohio

[myrrhia]

This thread is so old! A lot of information has changed.

The average life of a massage therapist is now 2-5 years. I have been an RN in Obstetrics for 30 years and went back to school in 2008. I have worked at a few jobs and also teach at the school. I thought I would be doing really medical massage - nope, I work with athletes! A lot of people I graduated with are already doing other things because they couldn't find jobs here in Michigan. We have massage mills that charge $30 a massage and pay $10 to the therapists. People work full time and burn out quickly. For a while, the hospitals were hiring MTs but not so much any more. And Michigan is not yet requiring national certification or a state license so each city can set city permit fees and criteria. The economy here is bad and last week I didn't do a single massage in the three days I had available. I am grateful I have the RN job ot fall back on for salary and benefits.

All that negativity aside - I LOVE doing massage. I like planning my own care and then caring out what I planned. I like doing evaluations when they return. I like to see the progress we have made. Being an RN has helped me with the anatomy, physiology, and pathology I needed. I have had weeks where I have made $300 in one day. I really enjoy it!

myrrhia

[EdMeiggs]

Hello to all! I am curious to hear the latest statistics on RN Massage Therapy. Has this field been hit hard by the economic downturn; has there been a noticeable change to insurance reimbursement? Are there any RN massage therapists able to share if they would recommend an established nurse, like myself, to begin a new career in massage therapy? Really appreciate all your feedback, thank you. -Columbus, Ohio

I am an LPN and a NMT. I have a Holistic Wellness office. We do well enough to get by, not going to get rich doing massage. But this is not why we do it. I have not had to work for anyone else for some time.

Sure, getting reimbursement for medical massage is difficult, but it still happens.

I am no RN, but a nurse does not need to be an RN to be a NMT. All you need is a 500 hr course and practice, practice, practice.:)