Why Even go for your MA? Don't Understand...

[skittlebear]

please enlighten me as i don’t understand. i was talking with a medical assistant at a doctors office today. she stated that she went to school for 2 years to become a ma. she also stated that she was required to take all the classes that an rn takes before they can get into the program (anatomy and physiology, etc), but she gets pain less than an lpn who only goes to school for one year. how is that fair? why not just get an lpn license or rn license instead and make more money. please, i know it’s not all about the money but i don’t think one could advance any further from a medical assistant the way an lpn can advance to an rn? am i wrong or crazy for thinking this way?

[ptbunny333]

MAs should not be relaying orders to nurses in a hospital. Orders need to come from the physician. Heaven knows we have enough issues with telephone orders from physicians, let alone taking orders from third parties who may or may not be relaying the information correctly.

Fair enough, I'll go with that. I think my point was that just because the person is an MA doesn't mean they don't know enough to relay a correct order if needed (I've done it before in a pinch) or phone in a script (we do it all the time). However, we are MAs for a reason, and that reason is to work within the realm of outpatient offices.

[jossjjojo]

Fair enough, I'll go with that. I think my point was that just because the person is an MA doesn't mean they don't know enough to relay a correct order if needed (I've done it before in a pinch) or phone in a script (we do it all the time). However, we are MAs for a reason, and that reason is to work within the realm of outpatient offices.

Simply out of curiosity (really) does the doctor refer to you as his nurse? Do the patients think you are a nurse? I'm not judging, I'm just asking.