Medical Assistant And Nurses – How To Tell The Differences
Technology is greatly advancing – computers, phones, laptops, cars and of course even the medical technology. Just when the technology is expanding, so is the human community. In connection to this, research shows that these two factors have a great influence to people. Technology made the lives of people easy and comfy. Unfortunately, it also trained people to be always on the go, even neglecting their wellbeing. To sustain the people’s lives, those in the medical field are continually developing and improving the medical technology. It now served as life sustainer for people. That is why health care business is in great need of people who can help them to keep up the growing health care demands.
At the moment healthcare employers are hiring medical assistants and experts to answer the demand in health care. On the other hand, it should not be mistaken with nursing. Although they each fall in healthcare assisting, they do have lots of differences.
Grounding
Nurse is a degree. To be a nurse, one must finish a four year course program and must pass the board exam before one can eventually practice. While medical assistant does not need any formal grounding and its training would only take six months to one year to finish. Furthermore, medical assistants are not compelled to take the authentication unlike nurses who needs to be registered before applying for a job.
Duties
Nurses are trained to complete medical assessments while Medical Assistants commonly do accounting and supervisory duties. However in some cases they do both clerical and supervisory tasks. Although MA can also take vital signs and other clinical works, they are not highly trained for administering and caring for patient’s medical requirements and performing bedside care. Also, if a nurse has a bachelor degree, he or she is allowed to give medications not like medical assistant who needs the supervision of a doctor before he or she can give drug.
Work Place
Nurse can work in nursing homes, home health care or in any other healthcare conveniences and centers while medical assistant cannot because these healthcare facilities do lack doctors. Medical assistants as requisite by the law, should only work in an area where doctors or any other medical practitioner is present. Also, MA are only allowed to perform ancillary in-house tests only if ordered or under the guardianship of a certified healthcare practitioner.
Supervision
Medical assistant often take orders and directives from doctors or other medical practitioners including nurses. While nurses have dependent, independent and committee functions.
Given those differences, both of them should act in accordance with a healthcare facility’s Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA, Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA, Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments or CLIA and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization or JCAHO. Both must be proficient and lucrative at all times.
In conclusion, nurses are licensed to practice the profession. Their work is to treat patients. Furthermore, they are responsible for educating patients about health-care. While medical assistants are those people who perform not only clinical tasks but administrative tasks as well. They are the ones who assure that the hospitals or the clinics are working smoothly.
Both nurses and medical assistants are functional in the health care delivery system. These healthcare assistants are important in keeping up in meeting the needs of people when it comes to healthcare.
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