ImAnMa

I am somewhat familiar with electronic medical records, each person has a sign on that is theirs alone and should include what amounts to thier signature, also each Dr should have a standing protocol as to refills that their nurse should approve and that the nurse and MD have discussed, it should be discussed and posted. for medications such as cholestrol or hypertension meds the protocol of the MD i work with is to see when the last labs were and when the last office visit was, for example- with the MD i work for the labs would have to have been done within the past year for hypertension and within the past 6 months for cholestrol. also you then look at the last office visit and see when they were to follow up for a visit with MD if they are within that time frame I am allowed to refill up until that time if the criteria is not meet then it is routed to the MD for auth. as for controlled medications they are and should be all routed to the MD for auth when they ok it they can print it out and you can give it to them to sign. Following a written protocol is within the scope of a nurse as well as an MA ... communication is key however. JMHO - I wonder if a protocol has even been discussed in your office ? If not perhaps you could bring it up and open the door for this.

The pay scale would depend on the area your working in i believe, I think you should just check the basics, is the MA polite, good phone vioce and temperment, can the MA type and I would also inquire about the MA's ability to multi function, how she feels about reporting directly to a nurse and taking instruction from a nurse. can she hear see and write well, the one other thing i think should be noted before hire is her ability to be on her feet for extended times. temperment and personality.... the rest can all be learned easy enough.

Thank you for your support. I start my new position on Wed of this week and i know the people and the Dr there so I know it will work out well for me there, I am happy being an MA and have untill this experience always worked with great nurses who were supportive so i never had any reason to pretend to be a nurse, if i wanted to be a nurse i have the knowledge and skill to be one and i could go to school.... of that i have no doubts its just not what i want to do ... there is room for both MA's and Nurses in a clinical setting and I know for a fact that they can work well together and help each other. Thank you for understanding that.

I have not seen an RN since starting at this place, quess they dont want to pay them... the charge nurse is an LPN which is ok if she would take charge, myself i think she needs to be replaced. she is more of a cheerleader and moral booster kind of person instead of leading the pack.

Your right it does all come down to numbers and that is a shame, because it is the patients who will suffer for that. I did step up to the plate but i have always done that however i did it for the Dr and the patients that i care so very much for not this place. Tue will be my last day and i go back to a place that will pay me same and allow me to spread my wings under the quidence of a nurse... since i am an MA thats the way i prefer it and really i feel thats the way it should be.

Because I am a medical assistant, and thats always been enough for me.

Several Months ago my Doc changed office's and employer (due to unforseen circumstance over his contract) I enjoyed working with/for him and was able to move with him. I AM A MEDICAL ASSISTANT. the new employer was not able to hire anyone else to move with him and they would not have taken the nurse as she is an RN. We knew this would be a hard move, he has a very large practice with complicated patients, his practice is IM with special interest in Cardiovascular. He moved to a very well known hospital/clinic the name of this place alone should speak of the quality of care you would recieve there. they are listed as employer of choice, most wired, ECT. After several months of strugling I quit now I have handed in my notice, Why? I am a medical assistant, not a nurse, I can and often do work independently but come on give me a break.... at this place the medical assistants run the show, the nurses are stuck on the phones all day, with very little patient contact other than the phone, and unlike any other job i have ever had the nurse's here dont want to do what the MA is doing, I am overwhelmed giving shots, ekg's, holters, ordering cat scans, mri's, kub's, and doing all the admitting work such as calling for a bed getting the orders to the hosp. doing all the refills on meds(really the nurses dont do refills!!!!) the medical assistant does with the exception of controlled meds. those go to the Dr.I have to do ICD9 coding for labs and tests and cpt coding for the mri"s i also despence and instruct on the barium for testing, i also do the clea lab work, strep tests, ua's and blood sugars, i up date the med list the problem list and notify of labs, normal and some abnormal. and you know what those nurses will toss some phone msg's at me to top it off!!! The medical assistants outnumber the nurses 3 to 1 in this place and they dont want to hire nurses, Pay i quess would be why!! and all of this from a nationally recognized institution.... I have asked for help begged for help to no avail,we see 20 to 25 patients a day with many level 4 and 5's thrown in there this is how they do things, and no they dont view it as a liability:angryfire I for one do not intent to stick around to watch the walls fall in when a pateint suffers because of this situation, and just how would they protect themselfs from the fallout! ok anyway end of the rant, I respect nurses I want a nurse who wants to supervise and help me whom i can help in return but i want to be a medical assistant and stay within my scope and let the nurse do what she is trained to do ... NURSE. and supervise her medical assistant. I cant mention the name of the place on here (wish i could) you would be shocked!!! I wont be seeking my health care there now or in the future and my family wont go there either since i want the best healthcare for me and my family. I think they have undermined the nurse and really overutilized the ma I want a nurse involved in my care Yes i would accept a medical assistant (I am one) but i really do understand what i am and am not trained for. I will say i am walking away having learned a lot, I now know how to do all this without having gone to nursing school and i enjoy the knowledge (I love to learn) but in order to do this unsupervised by a nurse in charge watching me and overseeing me is WRONG.:angryfire its unfair to the patients.

I work in internal med. with many older patients. and when a patient states a need we try to help if we have the samples, along with the samples we offer information on the indigent drug programs available, the volinteer of america program that we have in our area helps fill out the indigent drug forms and we give them the contact info on that. also we include any drug discount card info that is available. so we give them the samples and we document that we gave the info on how to get help getting needed medications at reduced cost or no cost . you have to walk some of these patients through the whole process several times. but the Dr I work for wants to follow his patients closely so that if they are not taking the meds he knows why, could be money reasons, unable to understand the importance of the medication. or just pure non complience. he hands out the samples freely to all of his patients whether there is a financial need or not.

I work in internal med. with many older patients. and when a patient states a need we try to help if we have the samples, along with the samples we offer information on the indigent drug programs available, the volinteer of america program that we have in our area helps fill out the indigent drug forms and we give them the contact info on that. also we include any drug discount card info that is available. so we give them the samples and we document that we gave the info on how to get help getting needed medications at reduced cost or no cost . you have to walk some of these patients through the whole process several times. but the Dr I work for wants to follow his patients closely so that if they are not taking the meds he knows why, could be money reasons, unable to understand the importance of the medication. or just pure non complience. he hands out the samples freely to all of his patients whether there is a financial need or not.

One way to control this problem is for all health care facilitys to go to and use electronic medical records!! and to keep the rx portion of the program locked to all users except the MD, PA, ect. then this neat typed rx prints out and the Dr signs it, also ends the problem of bad handwriting errors in rx dispensing at the pharmacy, EMR = safe,secure effecient medical treatment. IMHO

Hello I am new to this Board, In Fact this is my first post!!! I read this topic from the first post to the last and really was amazed at some of what I read, I am a Medical Assistant I do not present myself as a Nurse I do not call myself a Nurse and I have corrected Patients in the past when they have called me a nurse, I do work with some great and I mean really great nurses who have loved teaching me, leading me, showing me and instructing me and helped in perfecting my skills, they have never shown any resentment towards my desire to help them and to care for people/patients. And Because as nurses they have shown the greatest of care in teaching me I have excelled in my job and enjoy a great relationship with the Patient's the Dr and the friendship and respect I have for MY NURSES is endless. I work in a clinic/office and yes i can do the front office but I dont the Dr and the Nurses prefer to utilize my skills in the clinical setting, My Dr calls me his nurse from time to time however he knows I am a medical assistant and thus he fully understands my limitations and my need for guidance at times, the patients i work with understand I perform many nursing duties and i provide much to them in the way of teaching, learning and nursing advise however when their needs exceed my knowledge they know i will step aside and get the nurse or Dr to assist me in learning how to meet that need for them. In closing i think that its all about the medical team working together to give the best medical tx to each and every patient Team Work works, I am a medical assistant part of a medical team of health care providers am I am very happy with my tital as Medical Assistant I play an important part in each pateints health care and I make a difference in many peoples life and that after all is what really matters not how long i went to school :balloons: