I had a curious encounter at the doctor's office today. When I went in for my physical, a woman in scrubs came in ahead of the doc. She was wearing scrubs but no name tag. We hadn't met before, so I asked if she was a nurse. Yes, she replied.
I then presented her with paperwork outlining the shots I needed for school. As she looked over the paperwork, she volunteered that she was not a nurse but, in fact, a medical assistant. Oh, really? I replied. Where do you go to school for that? (I was genuinely curious.)
Well, she replied, she didn't go to school. She wasn't a "certified medical assistant," in her words, but "had a lot of experience." In fact, she'd been a CNA for 16 years, but this particular medical practice, as she explained it, "isn't like a hospital and doesn't care if you're ceritified." Hmm. Later on, the doctor sent her back to draw blood.
What would your reaction be? Obviously, she called herself a nurse, and she isn't one. (I wonder if she would have volunteered that info had she not seen my paperwork.) She called herself a medical assistant, then volunteered that she wasn't credentialed. I know nothing about MAs. Is that kosher? And what level of license does someone have to hold to be allowed to draw blood? (For what it's worth, this is the only person I've dealt with in many years at this doctor's office who wasn't wearing a name tag with credentials. Is there any kind of identification requirement?)
I don't see a problem with MAs drawing blood or doing an EKG (assuming they aren't responsible for interpreting the EKG) ... the CNAs in my local ER are trained as "techs" and do the same thing. What scares me is the phone triage and patient education.
My dad is in his 70s, diabetic, HTN. I took him to a podiatrist that uses MAs and their protocol is to check BP and temp before cutting toenails. The MA took dad's BP and told him it was slightly elevated. I asked her what the BP was and she said 128/74! :trout: Thats not cause for concern on a young, healthy patient much less someone with HTN. It means dad's meds are working.
heck, i worked as an LPN in an internal medicine office for 5 years. even the docs would call the MAs nurses. i guess they ddnt want the MAs to feel bad,,,
It's not my job (our nursing's job) to increase MA's self-esteem over their career choice by allowing them to commit fraud by passing themselves off as nurses. Be proud of what you've chosen to do and state what your job is, period. No blurring the lines.
There are no credentials for "medical assistant". There are all kinds of certificate programs and such, but the term is just a catch all for people just like her. Those who don't have credentials. My sister went to work for a doc as a secretary and ended up as a "medical assistant". Medical assistants do exactly that assist.
They receive on the job training to give injections and take blood, do vital signs and so forth. As a side note, you don't need any type of credential to draw blood, even in a hospital. As long as you have a high school diploma many hospitals will hire you as a lab tech/phlebotomist, and just train you as you go.
But for a specialy office as a non certified medical assistant, i dont think you need to know/learn to draw blood. I'm looking to get a job as a non-certified medical assistant in a Internal Clinic that does botox,ect for your body image.:balloons:
I have to say this. Many of these things are completely inappropriate tasks for an MA. Phone triage, patient education and presricption approval? ( I am assuming that you mean you ASSIST with EKG's, stress testing, suturing etc... at least I HOPE that is what you mean) It is not a reflection on you personally, but an MA education does not supply the education and knowledge base to perform these tasks competently. Now perhaps what you meant was the basic hand out brocheures, read what the provider wrote in the discharge summary, and make phone appointments. Again this is NOT meant to bash or slam but...I have taken the MA pharmacology class...there is no way they are qualified to approve presciptions (unless this means something far different than what I am imagining), phone advice alone is a HUGE liability, sigh... An MA can be a valuable coworker in an office setting, but you can't take someone who only takes very basic level classes for 6 months to a year and have them effectively triage and educate the public about medical issues.
I am a CMA and was trained to perform EKG's and was taught a basic understanding of an EKG tracing. (enough to know if the tracing is good enough for the physician to read or if I need to panic and drag him/her into the room). After 10 years of doing EKG's, I even know what A-Fib, SVT, and a PVC looks like.
As far as triage and prescription refills are concerned, as long as there is a physician approved protocol book for each situation, an MA can do this as well since the information is pre-approved by the physician. Any situation that is not answered by the protocol should be brought to the physician for approval.
Patient education can be as simple as explaining and reinforcing what the physician wants the patient to know. "Dr. Jones wants you to take your blood pressure pill in the morning with breakfast. Here's a book to help you keep track of your blood pressure. Please check it at least once and day and when ever you get the headache you were talking about. Write down the time you took the reading. Here's a low-salt diet that explains what food to avoid. Too much salt can make your blood pressure worse, so you really need to read food labels and don't add extra salt to your food... " ect. ect.
I know that there are MA's out there that go beyond their scope of practice, but please don't assume that all of us are idiots and don't know how to do basic office procedures.
BTW, my name badge clearly states "MA" and I make sure my patients know my credentials. I am also starting school this spring to work towards my RN (if you want to know why I dare post on a nursing forum).
I am a CMA and was trained to perform EKG's and was taught a basic understanding of an EKG tracing. (enough to know if the tracing is good enough for the physician to read or if I need to panic and drag him/her into the room). After 10 years of doing EKG's, I even know what A-Fib, SVT, and a PVC looks like.
As far as triage and prescription refills are concerned, as long as there is a physician approved protocol book for each situation, an MA can do this as well since the information is pre-approved by the physician. Any situation that is not answered by the protocol should be brought to the physician for approval.
Patient education can be as simple as explaining and reinforcing what the physician wants the patient to know. "Dr. Jones wants you to take your blood pressure pill in the morning with breakfast. Here's a book to help you keep track of your blood pressure. Please check it at least once and day and when ever you get the headache you were talking about. Write down the time you took the reading. Here's a low-salt diet that explains what food to avoid. Too much salt can make your blood pressure worse, so you really need to read food labels and don't add extra salt to your food... " ect. ect.
I know that there are MA's out there that go beyond their scope of practice, but please don't assume that all of us are idiots and don't know how to do basic office procedures.
BTW, my name badge clearly states "MA" and I make sure my patients know my credentials. I am also starting school this spring to work towards my RN (if you want to know why I dare post on a nursing forum).
I'm not assuming that you are all idiots. Performing basic tasks is one thing, interpreting EKG's and and approving prescription refills opens up an entire house full of worms, not just a can. If you don't understand what can go wrong and why, then that just further illustrates my point. WHen you get halfway through nursing school, I will be interested to hear what you say then. We have a few MA's in our class and every single one has mentioned how shocked and horrified at the danger their patients could have been in because of the prescription issue alone. It isn't a matter of intelligence. It is a matter of education.
But for a specialy office as a non certified medical assistant, i dont think you need to know/learn to draw blood. I'm looking to get a job as a non-certified medical assistant in a Internal Clinic that does botox,ect for your body image.:balloons:
Thats a good one, that way you don't have to worry about giving shots or immunizations, or draw blood. I like that idea. As a matter of fact, I gave a resume to a botox office as well last week
Thats a good one, that way you don't have to worry about giving shots or immunizations, or draw blood. I like that idea. As a matter of fact, I gave a resume to a botox office as well last week
Are you applying there to GIVE botox injections, or do other duties?
Other duties such as assiting the doctor and front office duties. I would be wiling to learn to do botox if to recieve on the job training.
I'm not saying this to knock YOU personally as I don't know you, but I personally WOULD NEVER visit a clinic or office that had somone giving botox injections by someone other than a specifically trained nurse or a doctor. There's just way too much that can go wrong by someone doing botox without the educational background to go with it.
There are a number of clinics/spas in my city that offer laser hair removal, botox, other fillers, other laser treatments etc. and I would not have any of these done by anyone other than a nurse or doctor.
Other duties such as assiting the doctor and front office duties. I would be wiling to learn to do botox if to recieve on the job training.
Injecting botox is a little more complicated than giving an IM/SQ injection. You have to understand which wrinkles you are trying to smooth out and which muscles you need to paralyze in order to achieve the desired cosmetic result. The muscular anatomy of the face is not a simple thing to understand, and the major risk of botox is paralysis of adjacent muscles; these side effects last 3-4mo if you screw up. That's quite a risk to take.
Injecting botox is a little more complicated than giving an IM/SQ injection. You have to understand which wrinkles you are trying to smooth out and which muscles you need to paralyze in order to achieve the desired cosmetic result. The muscular anatomy of the face is not a simple thing to understand, and the major risk of botox is paralysis of adjacent muscles; these side effects last 3-4mo if you screw up. That's quite a risk to take.
I agree. I'm pretty sure that's an MD job, at least around here it is.
wildcats
39 Posts
I don't see a problem with MAs drawing blood or doing an EKG (assuming they aren't responsible for interpreting the EKG) ... the CNAs in my local ER are trained as "techs" and do the same thing. What scares me is the phone triage and patient education.
My dad is in his 70s, diabetic, HTN. I took him to a podiatrist that uses MAs and their protocol is to check BP and temp before cutting toenails. The MA took dad's BP and told him it was slightly elevated. I asked her what the BP was and she said 128/74! :trout: Thats not cause for concern on a young, healthy patient much less someone with HTN. It means dad's meds are working.