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?)
