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What's the biggest difference between registered nurse and Medical assistant?
A registered nurse and Medical assistant
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Audrey’s Answer
Hi Rosa,
The biggest difference is that RNs are licensed to practice medicine while medical assistants aren't.
Medical assistants are certified, but their role is more supportive of clinical work rather than genuinely practicing medicine. They have a lot of administrative duties: phone calls, bookkeeping, helping patients with paperwork, scheduling appointments, handling correspondence, etc. Some of them may also do very basic medical work like taking vitals, removing sutures, drawing blood, preparing patients for lab tests, and assisting licensed medical staff during examinations and tests. They also can take medical histories and help with health coaching, basically educating patients on treatments, diseases, lifestyle changes, etc. I've also heard they're often extremely underpaid and unable to find steady work, and a lot of their training programs seem to be for-profit.
An RN, meanwhile, is a licensed medical professional. Typically with an associate's or a bachelor's degree in nursing, and then they pass a licensure exam and have their license monitored and maintained by a medical board. Because of this, they have way more medical responsibility, like administering and managing medications, monitoring patients, assessing their needs, maintaining care, observing and interpreting patient symptoms to communicate to doctors, and performing routine medical procedures (vitals, drawing blood, IVs, injections), maintaining patient charts, providing basic life support in emergencies (i.e., CPR), assisting doctors during more advanced operations and procedures, and taking care of patients in a variety of ways to assist their activities of daily living (mobility, hygiene, feeding). They are an absolutely vital part of the medical system in incredibly short supply right now, especially with COVID burnout.
There's also a difference between a medical assistant and a physician's assistant, which is a two-year post-graduate medical degree, and another type of licensed medical practitioner.
I hope this helps!
The biggest difference is that RNs are licensed to practice medicine while medical assistants aren't.
Medical assistants are certified, but their role is more supportive of clinical work rather than genuinely practicing medicine. They have a lot of administrative duties: phone calls, bookkeeping, helping patients with paperwork, scheduling appointments, handling correspondence, etc. Some of them may also do very basic medical work like taking vitals, removing sutures, drawing blood, preparing patients for lab tests, and assisting licensed medical staff during examinations and tests. They also can take medical histories and help with health coaching, basically educating patients on treatments, diseases, lifestyle changes, etc. I've also heard they're often extremely underpaid and unable to find steady work, and a lot of their training programs seem to be for-profit.
An RN, meanwhile, is a licensed medical professional. Typically with an associate's or a bachelor's degree in nursing, and then they pass a licensure exam and have their license monitored and maintained by a medical board. Because of this, they have way more medical responsibility, like administering and managing medications, monitoring patients, assessing their needs, maintaining care, observing and interpreting patient symptoms to communicate to doctors, and performing routine medical procedures (vitals, drawing blood, IVs, injections), maintaining patient charts, providing basic life support in emergencies (i.e., CPR), assisting doctors during more advanced operations and procedures, and taking care of patients in a variety of ways to assist their activities of daily living (mobility, hygiene, feeding). They are an absolutely vital part of the medical system in incredibly short supply right now, especially with COVID burnout.
There's also a difference between a medical assistant and a physician's assistant, which is a two-year post-graduate medical degree, and another type of licensed medical practitioner.
I hope this helps!
Updated
Anna’s Answer
The difference between a medical assistant and an RN from my experience is that they are very similar. I am a Medical Assistant. I work in a clinic with RN’s as well. RN will get paid more due to their license. The difference for me is nothing. We all do the same thing. Check in patients, record vitals, prescribe medication, give injections, etc. I sit next to a LPN on my left and an RN on my right. The only difference is I make the least amount of money. Lol Hope this helps! Also, I didn’t go to school. I had on site training and then got to take a test to get certified. Hope this helps!
Updated
John’s Answer
The response from Audrey is very good and she makes excellent points. I would add that medical assistants are lower paid by far, earning about half of what most nurses make on average. While there is a 2 year degree you can complete to become a medical assistant, that same 2 years can be spent obtaining a degree as a registered nurse. Additionally, the point about for-profit schools is an excellent one as these cost significantly more than a community college program and often leave people tens of thousands of dollars in debt.
If you are on the fence about these options in the medical field, I'd recommend looking into your state's current community colleges as many states are offering free tuition for a 2-year program to state residents. While already a very cost effective option for entry into nursing, if a community college program is free to you, then this may become a very easy choice.
If you are on the fence about these options in the medical field, I'd recommend looking into your state's current community colleges as many states are offering free tuition for a 2-year program to state residents. While already a very cost effective option for entry into nursing, if a community college program is free to you, then this may become a very easy choice.