"Wait for the nurse"

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Hello,

I am not a nurse nor a nursing student. However, I brought this up with a few nurse friends and just want some more feedback.

I've been dealing with my doctor's office quite a bit with visits and follow-up calls. It seems like they refer to every employee as a nurse. "Wait for the nurse", "the nurse will be right with you", "you need to talk to a nurse."

I have no experience in the medical field, so I didn't think much of it. I was talking to my friend who is an ICU nurse. She was saying how she is stressed at work and wants 9-5 hrs. I briefly mentioned how nurses work at my doctor's office and maybe it would be a good fit for her. She said "nurses? They're most likely medical assistants." She asked me what they do there. They take my history and vitals and then the doctor comes in. She was highly offended that they would call themselves nurses and wanted to report them. I asked her to explain, but she told me I wouldn't understand.

I told another RN friend of mine the story and she thought it was strange that my friend would react that way and kind of brushed it off. I didn't pursue it further.

But I'm a little concerned that my doctor's office can be reported. It makes me lose trust in them that they would call medical assistants nurses. Can they be reported? What would happen? Should I even concern myself with this?

Thanks for your time and btw, nurses rock!

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Hi there! Don't worry. Medical Assistants work at medical doctors offices. That's their scope of practice. (Other places too). :)

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Your nurse friend is referring to the fact that it is illegal to call yourself a nurse if you aren't licensed as one, or to let someone call you a nurse without saying you aren't, or to tell someone your office assistant is a nurse if there's no nursing license involved. Yes, this is reportable, and yes, there can be legal consequences. Better to maybe warn them that this is going on improperly and give them the opportunity to stop it.

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Thank you so much for your replies! It doesn't sit well with me that they're doing this. I can definately see why she is upset. And I know she probably didn't want to explain too much to me, since I'm not a nurse and probably thought I wouldn't understand. Thanks again.

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Specializes in PACU, pre/postoperative, ortho.

Do you & your friend live in the same region? I'm just thinking perhaps the staff really ARE nurses, but in your friend's area, that may be unusual. I live in a rural area where most offices still do hire nurses & MA's are just starting to make an appearance here & there.

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Specializes in Oncology.

While most offices are moving to assistants some still have actual nurses. Generally, an RN will make significantly more money in an ICU.

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Hello,

I am not a nurse nor a nursing student. However, I brought this up with a few nurse friends and just want some more feedback.

I've been dealing with my doctor's office quite a bit with visits and follow-up calls. It seems like they refer to every employee as a nurse. "Wait for the nurse", "the nurse will be right with you", "you need to talk to a nurse."

I have no experience in the medical field, so I didn't think much of it. I was talking to my friend who is an ICU nurse. She was saying how she is stressed at work and wants 9-5 hrs. I briefly mentioned how nurses work at my doctor's office and maybe it would be a good fit for her. She said "nurses? They're most likely medical assistants." She asked me what they do there. They take my history and vitals and then the doctor comes in. She was highly offended that they would call themselves nurses and wanted to report them. I asked her to explain, but she told me I wouldn't understand.

I told another RN friend of mine the story and she thought it was strange that my friend would react that way and kind of brushed it off. I didn't pursue it further.

But I'm a little concerned that my doctor's office can be reported. It makes me lose trust in them that they would call medical assistants nurses. Can they be reported? What would happen? Should I even concern myself with this?

Thanks for your time and btw, nurses rock!

Where I live Lpns make up the majority of staff at the drs office. Most don't hire medical assistants around here and if they do it is specified on their name badge. Most of the girls I graduated with now work at a drs. Office. Are you positive the staff where you work are medical assistants and not nurses?

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Do you & your friend live in the same region? I'm just thinking perhaps the staff really ARE nurses, but in your friend's area, that may be unusual. I live in a rural area where most offices still do hire nurses & MA's are just starting to make an appearance here & there.

We do live in the same area. She said nurses (RNs and LPNs) are rare in doctors offices. But maybe this particular office does hire nurses.

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Where I live Lpns make up the majority of staff at the drs office. Most don't hire medical assistants around here and if they do it is specified on their name badge. Most of the girls I graduated with now work at a drs. Office. Are you positive the staff where you work are medical assistants and not nurses?

I am not positive. I never even thought of it until she mentioned they are Medical Assistants and RNs and LPNs generally don't perform those duties in an office setting.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Hi there! Don't worry. Medical Assistants work at medical doctors offices. That's their scope of practice. (Other places too). :)

But they are not nurses nor should they be referring to themselves as such, explicitly or implicitly.

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That is true! But. Is the Pd. or the Staff referring as Nurses. It looks like the physician is entitle them. So, I think it could be not good for the clinic.

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I'm an Nurse and I would not like nobody to change me my title/ profession though.

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