skpklpn
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Just flu, not tetorifice. I don't want everyone to be down on MAs. :yeah:The girls in my office are great at their jobs. They draw blood well, they give injections well, and they are pleasent to the pts. If you've ever been to an office with a miserable staff you will appreciate how hard it is to find decent MAs. Its appropriate for them to do those things. I guess after 12 years (the last 2 have been at the office) of literally running my behind off on various floors, timing med passes, glucometer checks, meal tray passes with insulin injections, hanging IVs, answering call bells, wiping behinds, getting puked on, taking flak from doctors, pts., families, whoever, and working weekends, holidays, and mandatory overtime, and don't forget charting, maybe the word :nurse:"Nurse" would mean something. And maybe that when I was hired for this job (because its been noted not many offices bother with nurses anymore because of the cost) it was because of all that hard work and experience, and because not just anyone should be doing it. Again, this is my first office job. I'm still adjusting! I guess if you're not a nurse you really just don't get it!
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Thanks for all the great comments every one. My understanding is the MA can give injestions with the Doc in the facility, call in RXs to pharmacies, and room pts. They have CPR training, but I'm not sure what if anything they are taught about lab values, which is the basis of my irritation. Again, I'm willing to explain anything to anyone, if I know they have a question. But I guess they have to know the question to ask in the first place! As far as everyone in my office being a "nurse" it is starting to hurt my feelings a little. But it's my job, not a love fest...
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This is more of a vent, but I need a way to figure out how to handle this situation. I've been an LPN for 14 years. I worked in MedSurg & LTC until 2 years ago when I found a great office job. Its close to home I have holidays and weekends off. I'm able to drive my kids to school in the mornings, and I'm able to be at all their activities. I make less money, but it was worth the trade off. It's a small Family Practice office, and my docs are fantasic, as are all the girls I work with, personality wise. Great, right? My job there is to call the abnormal test results, among about a million other things. This can get complicated if other people that don't have the experience to explain whats going on with the labs get a hold of them. Or the experience to know what can wait and what can't. For example, last Friday the lab called with a critical K+ level of 2.9 on a pt. while I was at lunch. The doc took the call, but since I wasn't around he asked the MA to find out what the BUN/CRT was. She tried to look it up in the computer, and when she couldn't find it, she let it sit. All weekend. I got the final lab report on Tuesday and nearly fell over. Luckily this particular pt. had home health that had been notified of the result, and they called her to see what we had told her, and when she said nothing, they encouraged her to go to the ED, and she refused and went to the local pharm and bought some OTC K+. Not the greatest solution, but better than doing nothing. I called her as soon as I saw what happened and got her a stat BMP, but sheesh, it was Tuesday! This is not the only example, but probably the most extreme. Both MAs in our office have graduated in the last year. The other problem is that every staff member in the office is referred to as a nurse. I feel thats misleading to pts. They think the women answering the phone is a nurse, they think the MAs are nurses, and I'm really trying hard to not let it bother me, but the more these MAs are trying to assert that they can do my job the more annoyed I'm getting. I really feel these MAs are trying to assert themselves, and I understand they make less money, and they're on their feet all day, but they aren't nurses. They've never been on a floor. There's a difference between asking to learn how to do something and just taking it over and doing it wrong out of pride. Any ideas?