PNCC2001

This is scary; and as a mother, I would be extremely upset if this were one of my children. It also brings a couple of thoughts to mind. #1 Most med errors made by nurses don't make it into the news #2 One of the biggest reasons that MAs aren't required to be licensed is that supposedly there is not a "need" for it to be a licensed profession; because it is felt that there is little risk to patients if they are not licensed and they work under the Dr's license. This situation may be the impetus for it to become a "licensed profession".

My mother had CF with Pseudomonas, shockingly diagnosed at 61yrs; and recently passed away. She had no symptoms as a child, no hospitalizations, etc. They claimed she had a "mild" case. I attended a couple of CF seminars with her and they had the restriction of "three feet apart" between the CF patients; and patients with Burkholderia cepacia were not allowed to attend due to the above concerns of cross-infection.

You can also try the Health Departments. They hire BSNs for Public Health Case Management.

In Wisconsin PCTs are CNAs that are trained on the job to do phlebotomy and EKGs.

Unbelievable and scary that this kind of thing goes on.

I agree that private Medical Assistants programs are rampant and a rip-off! It is not possible to earn enough as a Medical Assistant to pay back the loans. In my area there are about five such schools. However, there are also two reputable, reasonably priced schools in my area; one is the technical college and the other is a University. Medical Assistants here start out at $ 12.00- $ 14.00/hr. CNAs start out at about $ 10.00-$ 11.00/hr. Our hospitals use CNAs and Patient Care Techs (which are CNAs with phlebotomy and EKG training; trained by the hospitals). Generally though as people have said, MAs are able to do a lot more clinically than CNAs. The trend in my area is for MAs to be Certified, which many are not, or cannot be because they attended the private technical schools; of which all are not accredited by CAAHEP or ABHES. Those accreditations are a requirement in order to be able to sit for the Certification exam through AAMA. So, although they are pumping out graduates left and right, many of them will not be hired. Here there are also a lot of jobs for CNAs and Patient Care Techs. Financial aid is available for people who qualify; for MA Programs, but is not available for CNA training because it is not a diploma or a degree. That may make a difference for a lot of people in the present economy. Our CNA programs are about $ 800.00 - $ 900.00 out of pocket. Many people do not have that kind of extra money laying around. All health care professionals are needed and the choice should be a personal one, taking all factors into account.

Thank you, Bebe 2010.

Doesn't your State Insurance provide and pay for transportation to medical facilities?

Nutrition Education and Housing are the biggest needs.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists among the tasks of LPNs; assist in the DELIVERY, care and feeding of infants. So why does she not belong in L&D?

I work in an out-patient/day treatment dual-diagnosis clinic. The important thing to remember is that addictions are a chronic illnesses, like hypertension and asthma. We do not say I treated "asthmatics" or "hypertensives" today; and therefore we do not treat "addicts". Their addictions are not who they are. They are people with addictions. Treating addictions as a "moral defect" is an antiquated philosophy and is not evidence-based.

I'm not too sure how I feel about this program. I went to retake the test after missing the passing score by 3 points. I and another potential student waited for half and hour and then when we questioned the wait, were told that the proctor for the test didn't show up. We were told that we could reschedule or have our money refunded. They did not seem to be too concerned about how bad it made the school look. We had both come a considerable distance to take the test, and their customer service was not very good. The program looks good and a lot of my credits would transfer; but for now I have chosen to go a different route.