CMAMW

Thanks again for replying to my original post. There is a lot of good responses. As a CMA in training I understand that it is not a stepping stone to Nursing. Medical Assisting is a completely separate profession with different training. I do not agree with uneducated people working as MAs. I also live in Washington state, like RN2B2005, and we have more strict laws concerning MAs. The clinics in my area do not hire MAs unless they are certified or are in the process of certification. I do not agree with CMAs calling themselves nursing and neither does the professional community of CMAs, such as the AAMA. CMAs are not trained to work in hospitals, LPNs and RNs are. We are trained to work in ambulatory care settings. A licensed physician MUST be present in the building in order for CMAs to provide the care that has been delegated. It is important for those who enter the profession or that has been in the MA profession that clinics are where we are trained to work, not hospitals. It is the phsyician's duty as the delegator of the CMA to supervise and weed out the unqualified MAs. CMAs also are recommended to carry malpratice insurance and can be sued. But usually the physician and clinic are the ones people go after because they have more insurance and more money. In my humble opinion, CMAs are valuable to the healthcare team of MDs, NP, PAs, RNs, LPNs and other staff. We need to all work together to provide the best possible care to the patient. Also CMA is the stepping stone to becoming a PA. I've said my peace, thank you again.

I just want to thank everyone for responding to my post. I understand that some of you have positive and negative views about CMAs. In the area of Washington State in which I reside, CMAs definately do not replace RNs. The hospital here does not hire CMAs or LPNs, just RNs. I decided to go into medical assisting because my personal situations do not allow me to attend Nursing school at this time. I did not choose to attend the LPN program here because the only jobs that LPNs in this area receive are in LTC (not a field I am really interested in). Also, the market here is overflowing with LPNs. My ultimate goal is to work in an ambulatory care setting as an NP or possibly a PA. Since CMAs only work in these settings (suppose to anyway) I chose this profession over LPN. The RNs here are considered highly educated and are trained to handle complex cases, specifically in the hospital setting. The physicians do hire RNs to handle more the complex cases. The CMA assists the phsyician/NP and can perform all delegated tasks within their (CMA's) scope of practice. My instructor at school constantly reminds us NOT to call ourselves nurses, because we are not. It is our duty as (future)CMAs to educate patients, physicians, nurses, etc. that we are Medical Assistants and we are a completely different profession from nursing. LPNs, at least in this area, are trained for bedside care, not to work in a physician's office. CMAs are trained to do many more things like, EKGs, suture removel, assisting with minor office surgery, seting up sterile surgical tray, knowledge of all surgical instruments used in the office setting and many other things. We are not licensed because we assist the physician, practicing delegated tasks, under his/her license. One last point I would like to include, the CMA creditials can not be used by anyone except those MAs who have been certified by the American Association of Medical Assistants. In order to become certified one has to attend an accredited program, take the certification exam and participate in CEs (Continuting Education) credits to continute their certification. All the offices that are hiring medical assistants in this area require that they either be certified or are going to become certified very soon. If not you will not get hired. Sorry so long. Thanks again for responding

I just wanted to get a some information on how Nurses feel about Ceritifed Medical Assistants because I am currently in a CMA program. Since my ultimate goal is to become a NP, I plan on going into Nursing in the future. Unfortunately my current personal situation prevents me from attending Nursing school. I wanted to get into the medical field until I am able to attend Nursing school. In the area I live in CMAs are a valuable commodity in the Physicians office. I feel that CMAs, although we are not licensed, serve as a valuable member of the healthcare team. We are trained specificly for the ambulatory care setting in both clinical and administrative procedures. Please give me your feelings on CMAs.