"I'm an uncertified medical assistant"

fultzymom · Apr 17, 2007

i think this is blown way out of proportion. i myself was a "non certified ma" i was kinda offended when i read this post!!!:flamesonb I DID go to medical assistant school(graduated top in class) and worked in a couple of practices(both of which are associated with major hospitals)when i graduated we had to pass a board type test(just to graduate--it was not a certification)when i went for my 1st job--it WAS NOT required to be "certified" however i had an opportunity to get my certification--so i did. the requirements were an amount of venipuncture sticks and a test. i still work with girls who are not certified--but they can draw blood and handle pts better than those who are certified. for some offices it is not a requirement, and is merely a title for those who have it--it means nothing as far as quality pt care! as far as her misleading statements at first...well...thats another story! so be careful how you judge others---especially when you dont know the whole story:nono: . now 10 years later as an MA--i'm a RN nursing student and my experience although not all of it while i was "certified" has been beneficial!

I do not think anyone is making a deal about whether she is certified or not. The issue is that she represented her self as about 3 different professions before she finally told the truth. Why can you not just be proud of what you do et say that you are a medical assistant. There is nothing that is embarrassing about that profession. MA's work hard in a doctor's office. Why do you need to lie about what you do? I do not think anyone is judging her profession. It is the lying we do not like.

katfishLPN · Apr 17, 2007

I do not think anyone is making a deal about whether she is certified or not. The issue is that she represented her self as about 3 different professions before she finally told the truth. Why can you not just be proud of what you do et say that you are a medical assistant. There is nothing that is embarrassing about that profession. MA's work hard in a doctor's office. Why do you need to lie about what you do? I do not think anyone is judging her profession. It is the lying we do not like.

Exactly!!!!!!!!!!!

JessLPN2RNASN · Apr 17, 2007

"nurse" is a protected title. It is agaist the law to call yourself a nurse if you so not hold an LPN/LVN or RN license recognized by the state. It is the same a calling yourself a doctor, Navy Captain, or Queen of England. You are no more a nurse just by wearing scrubs than you are royalty for wearing your daughter's plastic Barbie tiara.

:angryfire

Steamed RN (yes, I did my time behind the desk and in the clinical setting, walked across the stage to receive my degree, and sat at a computer for two hours proving to the state I was competent to practice nursing. They sent me a piece of paper showing their agreement and my employer gave me a badge with the letters "RN" behind my name.)

jjjoy, LPN · Apr 17, 2007

I just did a quick and dirty internet search on nurse as a protected title. It looks like it's regulated state by state. It looks like California passed legislation in 1999 on it and Colorado did in 2004. I didn't check for all 50 states but a few others didn't generate any hits in my short search.

family7 · Apr 19, 2007

Are you interested in getting certified if so I can give you the info on getting certified without taking the state boards if you are willing to work in the field. and it is legal.

Freedom42 · Apr 23, 2007

OP here. Guess what? I just went back for a second tuberculosis test, and it happened again.

This time the receptionist noted that I had an appointment "with the nurses" and directed me to a specific area of the waiting room as a result. A few moments later, I was called back to the lab.

"So this is for nursing school?" the "nurse" said. "Good for you."

"Are you a nurse?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm not, though I really should go to school," she said. "I'm a physician's (sic) assistant."

"Really? Did you go to UNE (the only program in my state that offers a PA course, minimum bachelor's degree required for admission)?"

"Oh, no. I'm just an MA."

OK, enough with the misrepresentation already. If you're an MA, say so. And why aren't all medical personnel, like pharmaceutical reps, legally required to wear name tags with their credentials on them? Because then consumers would know they're not getting what they pay for, that's why. This is not meant to slam certified MAs. It's a complaint against truth in advertising. As a consumer, I'm darn sick of it. I would think PAs would be offended by this as well as nurses.

After talking with classmates who tell me they've had the same experience, I've concluded that the next step for me should be to write an op-ed piece asking people if they know who's really treating them when they go to a doctor's office, why they should ask and why they should care. I also want to know what, if anything, the nurses' union here is doing about title protection (my guess is diddly squat). Then it may be time to write a letter to my state lawmaker. I'm also curious now as to the difference under my state law between PA and MA, since both work under the auspices of a doctor and can do whatever work she delegates to them.

TazziRN, RN · Apr 23, 2007

Have you spoken with the powers that be in the office? Do they know what the care staff are saying?

Geez.......now they've been elevated to the level of PA's??

lovesbutter · Apr 23, 2007

i am a medical assistant and you do not have to be certified to draw blood because they teach you that in school along with many other things (i myself am certified) MA's can do everything except give shots:nono: (there are places that will train them to do that) but she should have not come in saying she was a nurse that is very misleading me personally i would not have let her touch me since she does not know what she is. you should talk to the manager in the office and make them aware of what this lady is doing.:angryfire

LITTLEWITCHGIRL · Jun 23, 2007

:oIn Ohio, you don't have to be certified to draw blood. They actually will allow CNA's to take on this task in some establishments. Hospitals will hire people off the street with no medical training for this purpose. Yeah, this is really scary. This is why you hear such horror stories about patient having their blood drawn at hospitals. As far as the Medical Assistant at your doctor's office, if she had been doing this for a long time, such as ten to twenty years, then she is correct. Back then, you could just get on the job training for this position. And personally, if they have been doing it that long, they are well qualified. But now, most places require you to have graduated from an accredited Medical Assisting program before they will hire you. You do not need to be certified or registered in most cases because all the certification and registration mean is that you belong to the club called, "AAMA" and nothing more. It doesn't mean that your anymore trained or qualified to do your job. You pay a fee, take a test and get a certificate or registration number. In fact, there is no law in place in any state that requires an assistant to the doctor to have any kind of training at all. The physician takes the responsibility to supervise the assistant and the law grants the assist the right to practice medicine under the Physician's license and instruction. I do agree, however, that she was very unprofessional in using titles that she was not qualified to use such as Nurse. Interestingly enough, many years ago, only an R.N. was qualified to use this title in the beginning. Then when the R.N. responsibilities became too large for them, they needed an assistant which is where the L.P.N. position came into play. After their responsibilities also become overbearing, the nursing assistant position developed. After nurses moved on to mostly hospital and LTC centers, the position of Medical Assistant began. Then, the responsibilities of the Medical Assistant are getting too large and so there are other positions in the medical office called medical record technicians and office assistants that help the Medical Assistant with the clerical duties so they can focus on the clinical duties. With all four of these main positions, they are all forms of nursing. The definition of 'nurse' is someone who cares and tends to the sick. Florence Nightingale was not an RN, LPN, CNA, MA or anything of the sort. She was a "nurse". She cared for the ill. Anyone who spends their lives helping and tending to society's sick is considered a nurse. We should be so thankful to have them instead of bickering over what they should and should not be called.

crissrn27, RN · Jun 23, 2007

. The definition of 'nurse' is someone who cares and tends to the sick. Florence Nightingale was not an RN, LPN, CNA, MA or anything of the sort. She was a "nurse". She cared for the ill. Anyone who spends their lives helping and tending to society's sick is considered a nurse. We should be so thankful to have them instead of bickering over what they should and should not be called.

Ummm, Florence Nightingale worked really hard so people could GO TO SCHOOL to learn nursing. She was NOT in favor of uneducated people "nursing" the sick and injured. That was the whole point of her crusade. At the time, most "nurses" were poor, uneducated, and often drunks. She worked to change this.

LITTLEWITCHGIRL · Jun 23, 2007

Ummm, Florence Nightingale worked really hard so people could GO TO SCHOOL to learn nursing. She was NOT in favor of uneducated people "nursing" the sick and injured. That was the whole point of her crusade. At the time, most "nurses" were poor, uneducated, and often drunks. She worked to change this.

Ummm, I don't recall saying that she was uneducated or that she favored uneducated people. I was simply making a point that she went to school for four months and then practiced nursing for four years while volunteering in the war where she instructed other woman in the "art" of nursing. Yes, she did work hard to improve the career of nursing. But she worked even harder to improve the health care from the doctors during the war which started her crusade to improve nursing. So, if this is how nursing started, with no titles of RN, LPN, CNA, MA or whatever else might be out there now, then we as society should not bicker about status. We should be thankful that there are people out there willing to do this job.

Thank you.

crissrn27, RN · Jun 23, 2007

Ummm, I don't recall saying that she was uneducated or that she favored uneducated people. I was simply making a point that she went to school for four months and then practiced nursing for four years while volunteering in the war where she instructed other woman in the "art" of nursing. Yes, she did work hard to improve the career of nursing. But she worked even harder to improve the health care from the doctors during the war which started her crusade to improve nursing. So, if this is how nursing started, with no titles of RN, LPN, CNA, MA or whatever else might be out there now, then we as society should not bicker about status. We should be thankful that there are people out there willing to do this job.
Thank you.

There were no RN, LPN, CNA, MA's then. Now there are. Are you saying that you believe that it is OK for a MA to say she is a "nurse" because they are willing to do the job? Are you saying that you believe that the MA, CNA, etc really are "nurses" because the definition of nurse is someone who helps and tends to the sick?

Yes, MAs and CNAs are very important. I couldn't have done my job, when I was in LTC, without CNAs. But they are not nurses and if someone, such as the MA in the OPs situation is calling herself a nurse, then they are misrepresenting their occupation and education. Not a good thing, IMHO. "Nurse" is a protected title in most states, and with good reason. Its not a "status" issue, its an educational issue. You have to go to nursing school to be a nurse.