So why even bother with getting an RN?

[netglow]

[h=2]Saw an ad for urgent care wanting to hire MAs. They want you to be able to provide compassionate nursing care, assessing patients & taking effective action. They also want you to be able to triage critically ill patients and prioritize patient care appropriately as well as have skills in assessing, prioritizing many requests by patients, families, physicians, staff. You have to have skill in their EMR & infection control. You gotta coordinate care between clinic and other facilities such as hospitals or physician offices & do telephone triage and call backs ...among many & assorted other requirements.[/h]

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

It doesn't sound right to me either. One thing I noticed when I did peds is a lot of peds clinics will have RN's on staff, perhaps because of the liability involved with kids

[BlueDevil,DNP, DNP, RN]

I think MAs can only act as delegates to physicians, not APRNs.

This depends on the state. It is not the case here. I can delegate anything to my MA for which I am willing to assume liability.

[Guest343211]

In answer to the question posed in the title: because (legalities aside), an RN doing the same job is going to be paid 2-3x more.

Exactly

[Guest343211]

This depends on the state. It is not the case here. I can delegate anything to my MA for which I am willing to assume liability.

What state are you working in? No license for te MA to lose...no independent sop. And just b/c you can, it doesn't mean you should...right? Me, I'd set strict limits...base vs, wt, very basic. If you need more, you should have an experienced licensed nurse. Least that's how I'd go...everyone will do whatever I supposed.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

In some states, and looks like California may not be one of them, a MA in a clinic/MD office works under the direction of the MD. So they can ask an MA to do whatever it is they would like to in those forums. They assist the doctor, "speak" for him if you will. (as the pp best said it, act as a delegate). Which sounds extremely dangerous. ESPECIALLY with telephone triage and assessing. MA's are trained to take vitals, some do blood draws,I am not sure how much assessing that they would do-- and to run the back and front offices. They certainly are not learned in making a judgement about what their "head to toe" could mean--cause then they would have gone to nursing school.

If they are in fact just information collectors and run everything by the MD for further instructions, a huge time waster. "Mr so and so has chest pain. He took nitro. What now?" That is dangerous, in my opinion.

[duskyjewel]

So we as nurses need to work on States regulating MA's.

You know, it's really no wonder this country is going to hell in a handbasket, with thinking like this. The solution to your problem is to sic the government on someone else, to take away their job by regulating it out of existence? Who else's job would you like to use the power of overbearing government to destroy?

[JZ_RN]

Because MAs do not provide nursing care, they are not nurses. They are paid less and have a much smaller scope of practice.

[RNperdiem, RN]

In practice, it seems the MA scope of practice is whatever the person hiring them determines it to be.

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

What state are you working in? No license for te MA to lose...no independent sop. And just b/c you can, it doesn't mean you should...right? Me, I'd set strict limits...base vs, wt, very basic. If you need more, you should have an experienced licensed nurse. Least that's how I'd go...everyone will do whatever I supposed.

I'd have to agree. I know in my state of licensure, we're not allowed to delegate assessments and patient education, regardless of how willing we might be to accept responsibility for the delegate's actions or how much we trust the delegate.

[Salisburysteak, BSN, RN]

You know, it's really no wonder this country is going to hell in a handbasket, with thinking like this. The solution to your problem is to sic the government on someone else, to take away their job by regulating it out of existence? Who else's job would you like to use the power of overbearing government to destroy?

I do not think the PP wants to regulate it out of existence per se, but MAs should be regulated in a scope of practice. All nurses MUST follow one, so why not MAs.

[Mommy&RN, BSN, RN]

When I was an MA before I became an RN, I worked at a family practice. Duties there were vital signs, chief complaint, updating medication list.

Messages were given to the MD to address.

I did EKGs, phlebotomy, we did minor procedures in the office (mole removals, sutures) so, I assisted the MD. We autoclaved instruments.

I gave injections, did strep tests, urine dipsticks, urine pregnancy tests. I also had a limited scope X-ray certification.

Everything done was based on the MD. No autonomy at all.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

I've looked around and in some states an "assistant" can bark like a dog if asked by an MD as long as the MD takes all complaints for the barking. This is vary dangerous because EVERYBODY KNOWS that doctors are in their own worlds pretty much and are not watching what an assistant much less an RN is doing. But I am 100 percent positive that in many of these practices and in these clinics the MD allows the assistant to refer to self as a nurse to patients or at the very least does not correct the patient "I'm Dr. X's assistant, I am not a nurse", and they themselves often will say "my nurse will...." I've read twitter and blog discussions about this, where MDs say "nobody has specifically told the patient that they would be taken care of by RNs" thus they are not liable.

In fact, as soon as "nurse" is heard where there is none, they are hugely liable, and that is where you can get them right in the wallet.