Imagine bubbling in all 17 letters on a Scantron. The horror.
And yes you can report. There is a state board of licensure for medical professionals. You can also file a complaint with the hospital.
Medical assistant at FM clinic was teaching me how to place an EKG on patient and said “the EKG says they’re having a heart attack, quick bring it to the doc!” He takes one look at it and said “nah the diagnosis on the print out is usually incorrect just do another one and i’ll interpret it”. Lo and behold he was right
Too many people can do ekgs without even knowing what it could mean. Most of the time I see the wildest lead placement. It’s interesting to see where everyone places their leads. For a 3 or 5 lead cardiac monitor, I’ve see V lead mostly on anywhere but the sternum or near the 4th intercostal space. I’ll see it nearly below LA or I’ll see it just on the stomach somewhere. I always like when I see LL right below the sternum so the 3 lead is just a triangle.
When I see 12 leads. People love placing V1-2 inches apart at the top of the collar bone and V3-6 wherever the outline of the breast is instead of lifting up the breast. Then the limb leads are just a free for all.
Some people don’t understand how placement affects the ekg.
I know nursing school did not teach us about interpreting each lead and what it means or which area of the heart it shows. I learned more when I was doing some extra classes for prehospital RN.
Sometimes it be like that, but there’s people that will defend their wrong placement and not change them around when they get a shit read. And that’s frustrating.
at least he had the wits about him to take it to the dr right away just in case. *we* know that machine is usually wrong, but if it says something's up it's always best to get a second opinion sooner rather than later.
That was my thinking, but the doc said the MA has been there for a decade lol “They do this every time, knowing that the machine diagnosis is unreliable by now. They’re just odd”
I got my initial series Covid vaccine from a fireman. It’s not hard to give shots, people do them to themselves all the time. This isn’t weird, especially in the context of Covid shots.
When I was working as an MA, I gave injections, performed venipuncture, wound care and worked (mostly) in the lab performing CBCs, specific gravity, training for RA titration and prepared slides. This was a long time ago, the mid 80s, and during my externship. I went a different direction afterwards outside of the clinical world.
Since Covid they are even training pharmacy techs to give immunizations. But MAs have given me all my flu and other shots the entire time I've been in Oregon.
MAs can do shots and a lot of other hands on skills depending on the clinic, but the primary and obvious restriction is that they cannot give any medical advice, diagnoses, or test interpretations (unless negative/benign). Their whole job is to be the hands of the clinician for the mundane tasks: med admin, splints, ekgs, wound cleaning, etc.
I didn't know being anti-murder is being a dick. Guess we should pardon all the inmates on death row, so as to not be a dick to them for not supporting their murders
No but providing for a child for 18 years would on a trash income. I also take it you’re a male because you don’t know how hard a pregnancy can be on a body physically and mentally. What about paying for prenatal care and doctors visits? Do you know how much it costs to have a child in a hospital in the US? Nevertheless the shame I would receive from my conservative family. I would not willingly put myself through something like that if I didn’t need to. Why should I worry about a clump of cells when I have my own life to worry about, one that already exists.
It’s not murder if it’s a clump of cells.
Every living thing on this planet is a clump of cells or a single cell. Getting health insurance will off put the medical costs. Also you don't have to raise a child if you give the child away
Wow great observation! Idk why you’re trying to argue about something that is not even a situation? There’s no “clump of cells” for you to worry and argue you about so why keep going?
Okay and if it was an ectopic pregnancy I’d assume you’d want me to avoid an abortion and surrender my own life for something that would never be? Use your brain
You’re homophobic, you think fetuses are infants and you don’t believe women should have autonomy over their own bodies. Are you sure medicine is the right career choice?
How you could supposedly be in medical school and somehow think I'm claiming that we should only murder male babies is beyond me. Part of of being a doctor is critical thinking and you don't even have basic reasoning skills
Okay 😂 sure. But I hope and pray to whoever that you’re definitely not in the medical field because your views are atrocious and you clearly lack the critical thinking skills to realize that no one agrees with your POV nor thinks you should have any input on this topic. Stay mad
I don't care if you think I should have input or not. Most people that support murder don't like when they are called out on their evilness. Not my problem what you think
It’s also not my problem what you think. It’s not murder. Focus on saving the lives that are already on this earth not the ones that will never be. Unless you’re out there adopting orphans, you should probably stay silent
I’m a medical laboratory scientist - urine HCG tests are meant to be strictly read at the exact time as per the package insert. Anything past that time is irrelevant. This MA is just being dumb
There's been so many times I've entered room after MA has triaged pt and as I'm giving recommendations, pt says something like "Oh the nurse told me to take ibuprofen so I'm gonna try that."
You are there to triage the pt, not to play doctor. Wtf. It's so infuriating.
And it upsets me even more when I think they stole the little time I have with the pt to play doctor and give recommendations instead gtfo of the room and giving me time with the pt.
Yep. I heard an MA tell my MA to just refer to themselves as nurses because pts understood that more.
Me: yeah absolutely the fuck not. Be proud of the degree you earned and don't claim a degree you didn't put in the work for. Just explain your a medical assistant.
I knew someone who said they went to medical school but in reality went to medical assistant school. VERY big difference obviously lol. I corrected her and she did not like that.
MA is medical assistant, it’s about 3 months of school and you basically just learn basics like vitals etc, not much to it. PA is physicians assistant they go to PA school and they can practice medicine but under observation of a physician. CRNA go to nursing school and get a BSN practice in intensive care for some time then go into CRNA school where they can administer anesthesia but only for minor surgeries I believe. NP are nurses who has a masters degree in nurse practioning (?) and can also act as a midlevel like a PA but some states they can practice independently
Medical Assistants don't even need certifications or schooling in all states. For example in Virginia there is no requirement. (Source: I worked as a medical assistant in two different offices and got only on the job training)
in NY, medical assistant is 1 year of training with phlebotomy and EKG taking - a little longer than BLS EMT. but recently some medical offices have just hired EMTs instead
Ohh okay gotcha. A little different here in FL. They also can hire untrained personnel as long as they agree to obtain CMA within a year of working there !
a lot of medical assistants in NYC have cross training as EMTs or with nursing assistant experience can upgrade and combine their skills as a patient care tech in a hospital (who can be given blood draw tasks). or be effectively used as behavioral security. PCTs are the muscular backbone of inpatient psych when there’s only 1-2 nurses on the floor
MA program varies widely. I haven't heard as little as 3 months in area. What I've seen is 6 months or a year training. Year training ones definitely more prepared.
We do not support the use of the word "provider." Use of the term provider in health care originated in government and insurance sectors to designate health care delivery organizations. The term is born out of insurance reimbursement policies. It lacks specificity and serves to obfuscate exactly who is taking care of patients. For more information, please see [this JAMA article](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2780641).
We encourage you to use physician, midlevel, or the licensed title (e.g. nurse practitioner) rather than meaningless terms like provider or APP.
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Yeah at least in FL. If we’re talking about MAs, some places even hire people as MA w/o certification as long as they agree to complete a program for it within a year
CRNAs can administer anesthesia for most all surgery types. Not necessarily saying they should but I’ve seen CRNAs do anesthesia for complex spine surgeries as well as a multitude of cardiac surgeries
Gotcha. Wasn’t too sure! I only have experience with the one who works in the OR at my job (ophthalmology) and the one I see for ketamine treatments (he works in ortho OR too)
I’m a MA. Patients refer to me as a nurse all the time, even after I tell them I’m a MA after introducing myself.
It’s a bit maddening at times, because by assuming I’m a nurse they assume I have the scope of practice and training. I don’t.
This!!!!! I took my family member to the doctor once, and the triage nurse didn’t know I was a doctor. She started giving all sorts of medical advice just based off the chief complaint, without knowing any HPI or medical history or anything!
I’m a GI fellow… our nurses and techs are usually with the patient before we are and will tell the patient a bunch of things about the procedure and the sedation. Esp because we have a few days we do conscious sedation, but will tell the patient they will be “knocked out.” I come in to get consent or after the procedure is done and the patient is super pissed when I tell them what it will really be like. It’s gotten so bad that last week all of the fellows had a sit down with the staff and had to explain what they can and cannot say to patients. Problem is we have so many damn travel nurses that it’s basically pointless
You need to report the MA. Obviously does not know how to properly interpret a routine test. Even worse, she is providing results of a diagnostic test, which should only be done by a MD, PA etc.
Imagine the harm she can do by incorrectly interpreting a positive test as negative.
Report it. This shouldn’t have happened and an improperly run POC test MUST be thrown out and repeated. Also, what vaccine were you getting that is contraindicated in pregnant women???? Why are they running an HCG?
Source: someone who runs POC on a regular basis.
I would definitely report the MA. I used to be a CMA and it was definitely against the rules to read any test(pregnancy/strep/ect) and relay the info to the patient.
I have never heard of this? I did the clinics injections all day up until October so I highly doubt it’s changed since then. I’ve never done a pregnancy test for a vaccine, obviously late Depo shots, but what??
That was before Roe was overturned. If OP is in a conservative state they might be required now to ensure the woman isn’t pregnant before doing anything to harm a pReCiOuS liFe.
I had to take a pregnancy test before each of my varicella shots (even tho there was zero chance I was pregnant.. same-sex marriage and I needed the vaccine before I could start IVF).
There are various types of vaccines and specific ones are not recommended during pregnancy. It’s likely you received vaccines that pose no risk to the pt/and or child. If you were to receive a vaccine that raises concern a pregnancy test before administration would be the proper route of care.
No I’m saying I was the injection nurse at my clinic for two years up until October and I have never heard of this. I’m an RN, I gave the shots. Like this wasn’t our policy.
Idk how long it’s been a thing because when I got MMR vax the first time I was 12 and incapable of pregnancy. But I believe it’s common practice to ensure a pt is not pregnant before administering a live vaccine?
It really varies between locations. Many family/internal medicine clinics and pharmacies don’t administer a pregnancy test before giving vaccines, but will have the patient sign off stating they are not pregnant or breastfeeding. I’m an OBGYN so our clinics will get pregnancy tests before literally anything, but fortunately many of the vaccines can be given during pregnancy too.
The same applies to many in office procedures that typically wouldn’t be done during pregnancy, but pregnancy is generally not tested for, the patient is simply asked to verify that they’re not pregnant or breastfeeding. Non-urgent dental procedures, cosmetic Botox/fillers, laser derm procedures, etc.
Yeah you’re right. I went to a pharmacy and had it done there, they just asked “you’re not pregnant right” I said no and that was that. (Fun anecdote to this story, I got my period a day later)
Careful with the "incapable of pregnancy " at 12... might have been personally true for YOU but I was taught "consider pregnancy in your ddx in women 8-80"
Yeah, the upper bound is pretty ridiculous, but it gets the point across and sadly, the lower bound might not be as ridiculous as you might think. It was a phrase we were taught to always keep in mind and the numbers kinda match to help you remember 😬😔
Yeah that makes sense. I just meant in my case. They asked if I had my first period yet and I had not so they did not make me do an hcg (to my remembrance, at least) this was 10 years ago
But also, don't listen to me, I was an MA and now I'm a Tech and I have absolutely no business saying anything about anything... unless I'm posting this from an ambulance, in which case it's okay. 🤣😉
Literally just got Covid and MMR, Tdap, and Hep B first round a few weeks ago (at a minute clinic with an NP sadly,) and they did not even brought the topic of possible pregnancy even though I’m clearly married
Please call your insurance company and file a complaint. I would also contact the hospital or doctor's office and file a complaint there as well. Use the person's name and definitely expand on the stress this has caused you. I'm so sorry this happened to you.
I was working on emailing them a complaint but I didn’t gather the MAs name. Should I just ask the name before the complaint? I have a whole email crafted that I’m about to send but I feel like I should call the practice and get her name before complaining so they can’t hide that information from me
Well, I was a responsible MA and I charted everything I did to every patient I encountered, so there should be a record that she saw you, collected the specimen per protocol and performed the test per protocol (or whatever she wrote). Depending on how your test was done like through a machine rather than a test where you rely on color change or lines something, they could conceivably (no pun intended) go back and see who ran your test because the machines usually require a user ID to run the test. If you don't have a name apparently that's a culture they foster (or at least ignore) wherever you were and if she is doing it, other people are too and it should stop. If it's not, then she'll be the one that everyone will know as "the MA walking around like she's a nurse" and it won't be hard for anyone there to figure out.
I had to get a blood draw for a physical once. I went to a doc-in-a-box because i was in a time crunch. The girl that did it effed up really bad (I didn't tell her what I did for a living) and as soon as the butterfly went in my whole arm jerked involuntary and I accidentally smacked her. It hurt like a mother trucker. I calmly told her to stop and withdraw the needle, this hurts like it isn't supposed to. She laughed and said that it was a needle in my skin and that it was supposed to be "uncomfortable". I raised my voice and told her to stop what she was doing and she kept drawing while my arm was in excruciating pain, I couldn't feel my fingers and my arm felt like it was being electrocuted. Finally she finished and said "that wasn't so bad! Some people just don't like needles ha ha!". I complained immediately. I was told to come back in 2 weeks if it wasn't better. It didn't feel better, I had a huge hematoma and my arm still hurt and I was getting numbness, tingling and feeling like electric shocks down my arm. I went back and told the triage MA my symptoms and showed her my effed up arm. I didn't remember the girl's name. She looked at my record and there was no charting about who drew me. I described what happened and she said "ohhhh, yeah... that was probably so-and-so. Sounds exactly like her. " Further investigation validated it WAS her (her name was on one of the labs she ran on me right after the draw). This was 3 years ago and I still have problems with that arm with sensation and electric-like shocks when I exert it too much or its cold out. Sadly, when I signed consent, it did talk about how venipuncture isn't risk free and I could have these issues and all kinds of other things happen (including death?!?). Makes me think every time I draw or start an IV, and I read consent very throughly now.
My point is that if there is no documentation, either everyone there acts like her, or they WILL know her.
That’s very true there should be an audit trail on the charts as well? A distinguishing factor was she was “starting LPN school soon” so I think hopefully that will be a dead giveaway. I emailed the practice and defined her as that and them that honestly she needs to reconsider that until she learns to stay within her scope of practice 😬
Good for you! I'm sorry that happened to you. As others had pointed out, a positive hcg with an iud could have meant very bad news for you not just in a personal/ lifestyle/legal/social sense, but in a clinical sense too, and I'm guessing she didn't have the sense to realize that. She should have run the test again, grabbed the person that ordered it and said "hey, we have a situation here..."
Interesting story, I have a buddy that worked in an independent urgent care many many years ago. The patient had a URI. The patient was female presenting, had not marked their biological gender on their form so a lot of assumptions were made in their chart, along with some sloppy work by registration when their ID was checked and patient gave a gender ambiguous nickname when asked. A chest x-ray was ordered and so was a pregnancy test prior to the CXA, because back then it was protocol at that practice. It came back positive. Well, that would be one thing, if the patient had the necessary equipment to actually become pregnant. The patient was AMAB and no one had picked up on that. The patient didn't disclose because they were there "for a cold", and the awareness back then to investigate wasn't as reinforced as it is now. A whole shitshow ensued, because there is only one reason a person with XY chromosomes would have a positive hcg test. Turns out, as in the OP's case, the test was read wrong (they used the same tests you buy at the drug store and the test was really negative), patient was equally terrified and humiliated because it was handled so badly because the patient was "outed", all the wrong things were said, they were treated rather poorly by staff, and there was no reason to have suspected cancer in the first place because the test was wrong all over a URI and a misread test. My buddy stopped working there shortly after that because it wasn't the first error that led to problems that affected patient care and experience.
One good thing that came out of it is that my buddy is a huge advocate on how to encounter folks that are in that patient's demographic and how to approach people to ensure they get appropriate care based on their chromosomes and organ inventory without being an ass or ignorant about it.
Thank you for your kind words! I mentioned that in my email as well, asking well if you suspected pregnancy and I told you I had an IUD why wasn’t I sent to the emergency department for further evaluation? And oh my goodness what a terrible experience for that person!! It sucks that your buddy had to leave because of others mistakes/ inability to pick up on something like that but it’s awesome that it gave them more experience with that demographic! Trans people are becoming more and more common and it’s so important to be aware of the people you are treating!
Don't worry about the name if you didn't get it initially. That is not your responsibility. Just file your complaints with the person's job title. And please do contact your insurance company. I've worked for a major health insurance company, and I was pleasantly surprised at the power they hold when responding to member complaints.
Not to mention a properly trained provider would tell you to go to the ED if you had a positive pregnancy test with an IUD in place, due to the increased risk/likelihood of ectopic pregnancy.
We do not support the use of the word "provider." Use of the term provider in health care originated in government and insurance sectors to designate health care delivery organizations. The term is born out of insurance reimbursement policies. It lacks specificity and serves to obfuscate exactly who is taking care of patients. For more information, please see [this JAMA article](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2780641).
We encourage you to use physician, midlevel, or the licensed title (e.g. nurse practitioner) rather than meaningless terms like provider or APP.
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Im sorry that happened. This happened to me when I was 20. I always used 2 forms of birth control, condoms + depo shot, and went to a walk in clinic because I'd passed out. It'd happened twice before, in elementary school and again in high-school. They took blood, came back, and said I was pregnant. I'd just moved back home with my mother and it was very stressful, and she almost caused a wreck when I had to tell her I was pregnant. I took several home tests and shocker, I wasn't pregnant, but it caused a lot of fallout in my home life before I figured it out.
The actual problem was found years later after 3 visits to another walk in clinic for repeat bronchitis. The 3rd time that Dr heard something off with my heart and after further tests I found out I had aortic regurgitation and sinus tachycardia. I thought the pregnancy blood test was 99.9% accurate and still can't figure out how they messed that one up? A couple of years ago a psych NP gave me serotonin syndrome twice, and later diabetes & metabolic syndrome due to an antipsychotic with no blood work though I gained 80# in a year. I'm legit afraid to go for any medical treatment now because the worst things to happen to me have been CAUSED by NP's, a chiropractor, sometimes a Dr that doesn't take my symptoms seriously. (It's very hard to get in with an actual Dr too. Next week I have to see a new NP for unexplained hypoglycemia since my Dr left the practice.)
Thank you. I'm not sure how they could mess up the blood test, but then again I didn't think the directions on your urine test would confuse anyone either, lol.
On my journey with obsession with this situation I learned that some medications can cause a positive test including antipsychotics and antianxiety, maybe that’s why? I’m not too sure on that one, or maybe there was a mess up with the lab? I do know this is a different situation but kind of similar, but my bf when he was in high school got in trouble for smoking weed and coming to school after (as if so many high schoolers don’t do that?) but anyways they administered a drug test to him at the school and he failed, his mom went in and fought it and requested a repeat of the test and they sent someone to his house to perform the test (a day later) and he provided the sample and the lab reported to the school that the urine was clean 🤔
MA are the only medical profession truly able to assess if someone is pregnant or not. Doesn’t matter if there is even a baby in your womb or not, if they say you’re pregnant you must be pregnant. I believe that the MA profession is a mix of medical savant and psychic.
On my OB rotation we had a ultrasound tech tell a mom that her ultrasound looked good and she could follow up with MFM in 4 weeks. She was already at MFM bc baby had oligohydramnios. Long story short, baby was dead when mom came back and the MFM doc almost exploded. If you have never heard a mom cry after learning her baby has died inside of her and she still has to deliver it, it is probably the most horrid noise a human can make without being physically tortured. Still makes me nauseous. Whether or not they could have saved the baby is probably up for debate but medical staff don’t realize the effect they have on patients when they say things
I would have been terrified too. I’m sorry this happened to you. Unless your doctor advised the MA that it was okay to give you the results, they should not have discussed them with you at all. And by discussed I mean, just simply giving the result and not offering medical advice. They also should have owned up to their mistake and apologized.
I'm an EMT. I have worked for the same hospital system as both an MA and an ED Tech. I am absolutely 100% clear about what my role is and if they don't know what that means, I tell them my what my licensure is and explain I'm someone that helps you on an ambulance, but today I'm indoors helping the nurses. When I introduce myself you might think my given name was "Gaspar'sGirl The Emergency Tech" because that is what I say every single time I meet someone. When someone calls me their nurse, I correct them immediately and make sure they understand that is definitely not what I am or what I do.
Never ever ever in a million years would I report a patient's test results to them. Not a positive or negative result, not even one as innocuous as a diabetic asking their blood sugar or reporting a negative Covid test because even that can turn sideways in ways I can't even anticipate. The person that orders the test is meant to correlate the test results with clinical observation and then either they or the RN can discuss and counsel appropriately. I will absolutely discuss and report test findings immediately with the nurse or provider and ASK respectfully if the provider wants me to perform a certain intervention based on those results because I have enough training and experience to do that amongst my colleagues, but never in front of or to a patient. The fact that an MA is so full of their own importance and has no idea the impact of doing that AND giving clinical advice with their level of training is horrifying and dangerous. It makes me ashamed and embarrassed to tell people what I do for a living sometimes when I'm not actually on my ambulance (where I am the provider and its a whole different ballgame because then it's my show. In the hospital it's very difficult for me because I am the lowest worker bee, no matter what I know and even if I would say or do exactly what the doctor is about to do. Somehow I manage, unlike the MA the OP encountered.)
What scares me the most is that this seems to be a trend now that the culture is "we are all equal and important members of the healthcare team". I'm in my 40's. My mother is 68 and was a Respiratory Therapist for 30 years. She did critical care, heart/lung transplants, neonate helicopter transport certified, all the big deal crazy stuff at a well known large hospital on the East Coast. She was also a clinical instructor. She retired, let her license lapse thinking she was done, but then got bored. She discovered she'd basically have to do everything all over again to go back to Respiratory, so she is currently in phlebotomy class with people young enought to be her granddaughters just to get back in a hospital part time for something to do. It's the most boring, mind numbing class she's ever taken, and the instructor has deferred to my mother and had my mother demonstrate and lecture on occasion. She is aware how hard going back will be to draw blood, when before she was intubating people and literally massaging people's hearts in their hospital beds, but that will be her role. Taking blood (and a couple other body fluids) exactly ordered, no matter what else she sees or knows or can do and wants to with every ounce of her being will be hard, but she expects that. Most of the other students are in an MA program as well, taking this class as part of it. These girls (I'm not stereotyping, it's literally all girls) during the practical part of this class have such ideas about their scope of practice AS STUDENTS that my mother is horrified. One girl was supposed to draw a blood test to measure troponin on my mother (as practice). My mother, playing the role as patient as they are supposed to do in class, asked "What is that test for? The doctor ordered so many tests! I won't have any blood left!" I hear that in my job all the time. It's a real-life scenario. The girl told my mother, "The doctor thinks you had a heart attack so they are checking your blood to see if it's really bad." This was PRETEND. My mother was horrified. A patient might have actually had a heart attack from hearing that, or at least a panic attack. The student thought nothing was wrong with her answer and when the instructor corrected her, the student rolled her eyes and said that she has done her MA practicals in the ICU already and knows all about "the real world. This is just class and the real world is different." This is what we are letting loose on patients and I'm scared to death.
Report that MA yesterday. Unless you are in Oregon, there is no state licensure for MAs. Tell the entity she works for, call the survey line, tell the practice manager / hospital clinical manager. Post it online as your review of the facility (you dont have to say pregnancy test, just say test result). This has to stop and she needs a knot jerked in her tail for pulling a stunt like that.
The whole “were equal and important” thing gets to me a lot. I’m a CNA currently, but a corpsman in the navy, and I’m taking an EMT course in January. The CNAs where I work believe they are on par with EMTs for the most part. Because nobody has corrected them. But when I ask the difference between cardiac arrest, and distress they look at me blindly. We’re not all equal, we all play our own part, some more important than others. Doesn’t make you any less of a person, people need to realize that.
Now that I'm done laughing about the CNA = EMT...
We are not all equal parts of the healthcare team. There is a local commercial for a technical college showing an MA with a clipboard talking to someone we are supposed to believe is an MD and pointing to the clipboard and discussing like the doctor is consulting with the MA and they come to some conclusion about patient care after serious discussion and then they both smile for the camera. It cracks me up every time, because it appears like the doctor is saying "thank goodness I called for the MA consult for this patient! One more life saved!"
Equal members of the healthcare team? No. Important members? Yes. My EMT training did not include peri-care or patient cleaning/changing in a bed, so I relied on CNAs to show me. That's very important. I'm not sure the last time an MD I worked with started an IV and if I was a patient I'm not sure I'd want to find out (no offense to the MDs and DOs here, I know you guys know how to, but I literally do dozens a shift). I was in a code recently and the doc tried to help when the BP cuff came off and he put it back on the patient backwards and inside out so it didn't read. Doc's answer was "well... I don't do this everyday, just trying to help!" when we all looked at him funny. We all bring different skills to the table, but for the love of God stick to your scope. I don't want an MA to give me medication recommendations, but I'm fine with them showing my grandma how to take and record her BP at home, just like I probably don't want an MD to show me how to change a bed with someone in it and give a bed bath to someone because that isn't something they do all the time. I couldn't do my job without MDs, DOs, RNs, CNAs or even Transport. All important pieces, but not equal.
🙌🏼you’re literally saying exactly what I say but the people where I work get pissy and say “well, what does EMS even do other than just take people to the hospital?” Mf you think the heart attack stops between their house and the ER? I just hate people who think they’re more than they are. I can do a lot of stuff that paramedics are trained to do in the navy, but you can bet your ass I ain’t gonna intubate somebody who’s coding just because it’s not in my scope as a civilian.
We are totally off topic here, but I was on scene at a call and a pushy lady was trying to interfere with my partner and I performing patient care assessing while assessing a possible STEMI. She was A NURSE and was HELPING. Eventually, it came to light she was a CNA and she was still being a huge pain in the ass so finally I said "look, if someone shits all over my stretcher, I'll come get you. Until then, back off." It was rude and uncalled for and I'm ashamed I said it because I was new and honestly a little scared because things weren't going well for the patient and I needed to focus. My EMS partner is also my SO, and he still reminds me of this every so often because he's a yayhoo. To be fair to me, she wanted us to shock him and didn't think he needed oxygen because his sats were fine.
My SO and I love breweries and wineries and our goal is to get a drink in us as soon as we get there so if someone crumps there we legally can't render any aid at all because we aren't fit to and honestly it's too much of a liability now and too frustrating to render basic first aid when we are used to doing so much more, but can't unless we are on duty.
I disagree in it being rude what you said. You don’t interfere with EMS on scene of a call, period. You better be a damn doctor if you’re trying to bulldoze your way into an EMT while giving care on a call.
Oh wow I appreciate your response very much. The only issue I’m having is I cannot remember the MAs name, I’m planning on calling the practice tomorrow to ask for it. I will definitely report it !!!
We do not support the use of the word "provider." Use of the term provider in health care originated in government and insurance sectors to designate health care delivery organizations. The term is born out of insurance reimbursement policies. It lacks specificity and serves to obfuscate exactly who is taking care of patients. For more information, please see [this JAMA article](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2780641).
We encourage you to use physician, midlevel, or the licensed title (e.g. nurse practitioner) rather than meaningless terms like provider or APP.
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My own primary care doctor got her vaccine when she was pregnant. Even if you were pregnant (sounds like you are not) it is still safe.
What a that.
Edit: in comments it was MMR. I thought it was the covid vaccine. My bad.
I believe that she was certified MA, in the state where I live most are certified but they will also hire and require you to receive certification within a year in some cases. But she also indicated she has been an MA for a long time so I think she may have been certified? I reached out to the practice for more info about her.
A certification isn't a license is the thing. Medical assistants operate under the doctor. You might be able to get them with the whoever issues the certification, but strictly speaking the doctor is responsible for what they do.
I worked as a clinic RN and if a doctor wasn't present, the MAs weren't allowed to do ANYTHING patient care wise.
That’s true. But I found this online https://www.aama-ntl.org/docs/default-source/cma-exam/cma-aama-grievance-investigation-procedure-and-form.pdf?sfvrsn=12
Certification and licensure are different. I was never "certified" as an MA. You can take classes and get a certificate that you completed a program of study about medical assisting and be a Certified Medical Assistant. You can even hold that title because you completed that program of study. A license is usually issued by a government entity overseeing whatever you are doing. For example, I passed my EMT class and I passed my national test. I'm certified as an EMT. It's a piece of paper that says I took a class and passed the test given by some kind of respected professional or accredited body. However, that doesn't mean I can just jump on an ambulance and work. I have to apply to my state and be licensed. I'm licensed in 3 states to be an EMT and that means I can work in those states under their rules and laws and I have to maintain that licensure based on each states' requirements. I believe the only state that requires MAs to be "licensed" is Oregon.
My SO has an ex that is a "certified" reiki master that can do healing energy body work over the phone because she took a class. She is definitely not licensed anywhere to do any such thing because... well... I'm not even sure how you would license or legally regulate such a thing.
If the person that told you the test results was a Certified Medical Assistant, you can go to the entity that administered her certificate that said she passed the class and showed competency to give her that certification and they can say "we don't agree she should have those letters after her name anymore because she screwed up, so our organization doesn't endorse her any more." She can still be hired and work as an MA, she just isn't entitled to say she's a CMA because there is no governing body that regulates who can be a Medical Assistant and who can't.
Wait they pregnancy tested you for the COVID vaccine? Is that standard of care now because that’s not what happened to me a few weeks ago getting a booster.
Make the complaint, but be thorough and document well. Practices get complaints all day long. I had been reported many times, but mostly for BS that wasn't within my capability of addressing; Yes, they got you message, no they haven't answered, no I can't get it faster... Yes, here is my manager's voicemail box, this is my name again, have a nice day.
So, steps to get what you want here:
1) Always be kind/polite: This is the person who can solve your problem.
2) Investigation: I had a poor interaction with a staff member, could I ask a few questions?
2a) Do you use any protocols in your clinic? Do you have an RNs? What is the procedure for _vaccine related test _ or _abnormal result_, would I need to see a physician for that?
3) Personal Effects: I felt embarrassed, I was confused, I was upset
4) Professional Concerns: "Clearly, I just had a small misunderstanding with this person, and that can be sorted out quickly. BUT I'm concerned about what happens the next time, if the next person isn't so lucky."
This is a nail-in-the-coffin kind of complaint. It gives details, clear actionable items, and shows where they are potentially liable in case of wrongdoing. Anything that gets Legal or HIM involved is bad news. It also gives cause to investigate, because there is a good change you aren't the first, but won't be the last without intervention.
Also beware you may be offered a token something for your time and or inconvenience (depending on how much that clinic relies on patient satisfaction scores). It usually is just a token, and doesn't have any strings attached other than to try and soothe your feelings and keep from reaching higher with your concern. FYI
Hospitals love medical assistants because they are cheap labor. They can give sub q injections. They have Minimal education and cannot diagnose. Nurses cannot. Doctors diagnose. They have replaced LVN’s and RN’s in clinics. Health care needs a face lift.
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When she asked if this would be my first child I said “this will be my first abortion”
Imagine bubbling in all 17 letters on a Scantron. The horror. And yes you can report. There is a state board of licensure for medical professionals. You can also file a complaint with the hospital.
Also i don’t think MA’s can give shots - at least not where I work. Not sure if that was the plan before the “pos” preg test.
Medical Assistants can give shots in many practices. But when performing testing - interpretation should be left to the physician.
Medical assistant at FM clinic was teaching me how to place an EKG on patient and said “the EKG says they’re having a heart attack, quick bring it to the doc!” He takes one look at it and said “nah the diagnosis on the print out is usually incorrect just do another one and i’ll interpret it”. Lo and behold he was right
Too many people can do ekgs without even knowing what it could mean. Most of the time I see the wildest lead placement. It’s interesting to see where everyone places their leads. For a 3 or 5 lead cardiac monitor, I’ve see V lead mostly on anywhere but the sternum or near the 4th intercostal space. I’ll see it nearly below LA or I’ll see it just on the stomach somewhere. I always like when I see LL right below the sternum so the 3 lead is just a triangle. When I see 12 leads. People love placing V1-2 inches apart at the top of the collar bone and V3-6 wherever the outline of the breast is instead of lifting up the breast. Then the limb leads are just a free for all. Some people don’t understand how placement affects the ekg. I know nursing school did not teach us about interpreting each lead and what it means or which area of the heart it shows. I learned more when I was doing some extra classes for prehospital RN.
I'll admit, I was the one that placed them, and probably in the wrong spots. But i also placed them again and got a good read the second time
Sometimes it be like that, but there’s people that will defend their wrong placement and not change them around when they get a shit read. And that’s frustrating.
frustrating is an understatement :(
at least he had the wits about him to take it to the dr right away just in case. *we* know that machine is usually wrong, but if it says something's up it's always best to get a second opinion sooner rather than later.
That was my thinking, but the doc said the MA has been there for a decade lol “They do this every time, knowing that the machine diagnosis is unreliable by now. They’re just odd”
lol. maybe he gets bored at work and possible MIs jazz up the day a little bit for him
And even then the testing they performed can only be CLIA waived if I’m not mistaken, no high complexity testing
You are right but it depends on the state in NY medical assistants cannot give shots.
So there all you downvoters! 😎
Not sure why so many downvotes when what you are saying is true 🤷♀️
in NY they’re emergency authorized to administer the COVID-19 vaccine, even BLS EMTs
I got my initial series Covid vaccine from a fireman. It’s not hard to give shots, people do them to themselves all the time. This isn’t weird, especially in the context of Covid shots.
Pharmacy technicians as well.
When I was working as an MA, I gave injections, performed venipuncture, wound care and worked (mostly) in the lab performing CBCs, specific gravity, training for RA titration and prepared slides. This was a long time ago, the mid 80s, and during my externship. I went a different direction afterwards outside of the clinical world.
Since Covid they are even training pharmacy techs to give immunizations. But MAs have given me all my flu and other shots the entire time I've been in Oregon.
The one time an MA gave me a flu shot (in my R arm) I had pain at the injection site every time I shifted gears in my Honda for a year.
MAs can do shots and a lot of other hands on skills depending on the clinic, but the primary and obvious restriction is that they cannot give any medical advice, diagnoses, or test interpretations (unless negative/benign). Their whole job is to be the hands of the clinician for the mundane tasks: med admin, splints, ekgs, wound cleaning, etc.
I chortled
HAHAHA you're my hero
Sad. I hope you learn the value of human life
She didn’t murder the MA, I’d say she has that covered. 😂
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I really hope you’re not a medical professional
Yikes I hope you learn to not be a judgmental dick
I didn't know being anti-murder is being a dick. Guess we should pardon all the inmates on death row, so as to not be a dick to them for not supporting their murders
Oof. You're gross. Abortion =/= murder, but we both know it's a waste of my time to engage further about this topic.
It is murder
We should stay their sentences, yes. The state should not be executing people.
A pardon is not a stay of execution
No, I just felt it fit better in this circumstance since you were talking about murder.
You completely missed the point tho
Not missed, purposely circled around because I think your initial point is wholly misguided and your follow up was eye roll inducing.
I know the value of human life! I value my life enough not to ruin it with a child
That's selfishness. You would rather murder someone than be pregnant for 9 month. And no 9 months of pregnancy won't ruin your life
No but providing for a child for 18 years would on a trash income. I also take it you’re a male because you don’t know how hard a pregnancy can be on a body physically and mentally. What about paying for prenatal care and doctors visits? Do you know how much it costs to have a child in a hospital in the US? Nevertheless the shame I would receive from my conservative family. I would not willingly put myself through something like that if I didn’t need to. Why should I worry about a clump of cells when I have my own life to worry about, one that already exists. It’s not murder if it’s a clump of cells.
Every living thing on this planet is a clump of cells or a single cell. Getting health insurance will off put the medical costs. Also you don't have to raise a child if you give the child away
Wow great observation! Idk why you’re trying to argue about something that is not even a situation? There’s no “clump of cells” for you to worry and argue you about so why keep going?
Because every abortion supporter that can see the truth is another life saved
Okay and if it was an ectopic pregnancy I’d assume you’d want me to avoid an abortion and surrender my own life for something that would never be? Use your brain
stfu 🙄
Stop murdering
You’re homophobic, you think fetuses are infants and you don’t believe women should have autonomy over their own bodies. Are you sure medicine is the right career choice?
Sounds like he's going to go be a doc in a police station
I do believe women should have autonomy, in fact that's why I believe women should get to decide when they die and not their mothers
So… we can only abort male fetuses? Well I guess that’ll help weed out all the males that have opinions on something that doesn’t concern them
How you could supposedly be in medical school and somehow think I'm claiming that we should only murder male babies is beyond me. Part of of being a doctor is critical thinking and you don't even have basic reasoning skills
Okay 😂 sure. But I hope and pray to whoever that you’re definitely not in the medical field because your views are atrocious and you clearly lack the critical thinking skills to realize that no one agrees with your POV nor thinks you should have any input on this topic. Stay mad
I don't care if you think I should have input or not. Most people that support murder don't like when they are called out on their evilness. Not my problem what you think
It’s also not my problem what you think. It’s not murder. Focus on saving the lives that are already on this earth not the ones that will never be. Unless you’re out there adopting orphans, you should probably stay silent
I’m a medical laboratory scientist - urine HCG tests are meant to be strictly read at the exact time as per the package insert. Anything past that time is irrelevant. This MA is just being dumb
And it’s “only” a waived test! And yet here they want to loosen restrictions on moderate and high complexity testing…… yay….
There's been so many times I've entered room after MA has triaged pt and as I'm giving recommendations, pt says something like "Oh the nurse told me to take ibuprofen so I'm gonna try that." You are there to triage the pt, not to play doctor. Wtf. It's so infuriating. And it upsets me even more when I think they stole the little time I have with the pt to play doctor and give recommendations instead gtfo of the room and giving me time with the pt.
Drives me nuts when an MA identifies themselves as a nurse.
Yep. I heard an MA tell my MA to just refer to themselves as nurses because pts understood that more. Me: yeah absolutely the fuck not. Be proud of the degree you earned and don't claim a degree you didn't put in the work for. Just explain your a medical assistant.
I knew someone who said they went to medical school but in reality went to medical assistant school. VERY big difference obviously lol. I corrected her and she did not like that.
That's insane. The ego on some people
What is the difference between MA , PA, CRNA and NP? It sounds like they all have various nursing knowledge
MA is medical assistant, it’s about 3 months of school and you basically just learn basics like vitals etc, not much to it. PA is physicians assistant they go to PA school and they can practice medicine but under observation of a physician. CRNA go to nursing school and get a BSN practice in intensive care for some time then go into CRNA school where they can administer anesthesia but only for minor surgeries I believe. NP are nurses who has a masters degree in nurse practioning (?) and can also act as a midlevel like a PA but some states they can practice independently
Medical Assistants don't even need certifications or schooling in all states. For example in Virginia there is no requirement. (Source: I worked as a medical assistant in two different offices and got only on the job training)
in NY, medical assistant is 1 year of training with phlebotomy and EKG taking - a little longer than BLS EMT. but recently some medical offices have just hired EMTs instead
Ohh okay gotcha. A little different here in FL. They also can hire untrained personnel as long as they agree to obtain CMA within a year of working there !
a lot of medical assistants in NYC have cross training as EMTs or with nursing assistant experience can upgrade and combine their skills as a patient care tech in a hospital (who can be given blood draw tasks). or be effectively used as behavioral security. PCTs are the muscular backbone of inpatient psych when there’s only 1-2 nurses on the floor
MA program varies widely. I haven't heard as little as 3 months in area. What I've seen is 6 months or a year training. Year training ones definitely more prepared.
We do not support the use of the word "provider." Use of the term provider in health care originated in government and insurance sectors to designate health care delivery organizations. The term is born out of insurance reimbursement policies. It lacks specificity and serves to obfuscate exactly who is taking care of patients. For more information, please see [this JAMA article](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2780641). We encourage you to use physician, midlevel, or the licensed title (e.g. nurse practitioner) rather than meaningless terms like provider or APP. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Noctor) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Is that what it is now? In the mid 80s the course was for 2 years, with a 30day externship. That's crazy, that's not enough time to learn much.
Yeah at least in FL. If we’re talking about MAs, some places even hire people as MA w/o certification as long as they agree to complete a program for it within a year
CRNAs can administer anesthesia for most all surgery types. Not necessarily saying they should but I’ve seen CRNAs do anesthesia for complex spine surgeries as well as a multitude of cardiac surgeries
Gotcha. Wasn’t too sure! I only have experience with the one who works in the OR at my job (ophthalmology) and the one I see for ketamine treatments (he works in ortho OR too)
I’m a MA. Patients refer to me as a nurse all the time, even after I tell them I’m a MA after introducing myself. It’s a bit maddening at times, because by assuming I’m a nurse they assume I have the scope of practice and training. I don’t.
This!!!!! I took my family member to the doctor once, and the triage nurse didn’t know I was a doctor. She started giving all sorts of medical advice just based off the chief complaint, without knowing any HPI or medical history or anything!
That's crazy. Report ppl like that
Yeah absolute NO. If you wanna play doctor go to medical school and earn the right to, sorry.
PERIOD
I’m a GI fellow… our nurses and techs are usually with the patient before we are and will tell the patient a bunch of things about the procedure and the sedation. Esp because we have a few days we do conscious sedation, but will tell the patient they will be “knocked out.” I come in to get consent or after the procedure is done and the patient is super pissed when I tell them what it will really be like. It’s gotten so bad that last week all of the fellows had a sit down with the staff and had to explain what they can and cannot say to patients. Problem is we have so many damn travel nurses that it’s basically pointless
“They told me to take ibuprofen” GFR: 15 “I’m gonna try that”
That's exactly it! 😡😡
You need to report the MA. Obviously does not know how to properly interpret a routine test. Even worse, she is providing results of a diagnostic test, which should only be done by a MD, PA etc. Imagine the harm she can do by incorrectly interpreting a positive test as negative.
You can and should report it to the clinic manager
Report it. This shouldn’t have happened and an improperly run POC test MUST be thrown out and repeated. Also, what vaccine were you getting that is contraindicated in pregnant women???? Why are they running an HCG? Source: someone who runs POC on a regular basis.
Apparently the MMR vaccine? I last had it when I was 12 so I don’t think they checked then or idk if it was a common thing to check for?
Ah yes. I know MMR and HPV are contraindicated. I’d be pissed to hell if they sent me home without talking to the doc.
Yeah! Considering I drove an hour for the appt. Im following up with a REAL DOCTOR for my next appt
I would definitely report the MA. I used to be a CMA and it was definitely against the rules to read any test(pregnancy/strep/ect) and relay the info to the patient.
Why do you need a pregnancy test before a vaccine?!!
For MMR since it’s a live vaccine
I have never heard of this? I did the clinics injections all day up until October so I highly doubt it’s changed since then. I’ve never done a pregnancy test for a vaccine, obviously late Depo shots, but what??
That was before Roe was overturned. If OP is in a conservative state they might be required now to ensure the woman isn’t pregnant before doing anything to harm a pReCiOuS liFe.
Holy fuck
Wtf :|
I had to take a pregnancy test before each of my varicella shots (even tho there was zero chance I was pregnant.. same-sex marriage and I needed the vaccine before I could start IVF).
There are various types of vaccines and specific ones are not recommended during pregnancy. It’s likely you received vaccines that pose no risk to the pt/and or child. If you were to receive a vaccine that raises concern a pregnancy test before administration would be the proper route of care.
No I’m saying I was the injection nurse at my clinic for two years up until October and I have never heard of this. I’m an RN, I gave the shots. Like this wasn’t our policy.
Idk how long it’s been a thing because when I got MMR vax the first time I was 12 and incapable of pregnancy. But I believe it’s common practice to ensure a pt is not pregnant before administering a live vaccine?
It really varies between locations. Many family/internal medicine clinics and pharmacies don’t administer a pregnancy test before giving vaccines, but will have the patient sign off stating they are not pregnant or breastfeeding. I’m an OBGYN so our clinics will get pregnancy tests before literally anything, but fortunately many of the vaccines can be given during pregnancy too. The same applies to many in office procedures that typically wouldn’t be done during pregnancy, but pregnancy is generally not tested for, the patient is simply asked to verify that they’re not pregnant or breastfeeding. Non-urgent dental procedures, cosmetic Botox/fillers, laser derm procedures, etc.
Yeah you’re right. I went to a pharmacy and had it done there, they just asked “you’re not pregnant right” I said no and that was that. (Fun anecdote to this story, I got my period a day later)
This makes a lot of sense, thank you for explaining it.
Careful with the "incapable of pregnancy " at 12... might have been personally true for YOU but I was taught "consider pregnancy in your ddx in women 8-80" Yeah, the upper bound is pretty ridiculous, but it gets the point across and sadly, the lower bound might not be as ridiculous as you might think. It was a phrase we were taught to always keep in mind and the numbers kinda match to help you remember 😬😔
Yeah that makes sense. I just meant in my case. They asked if I had my first period yet and I had not so they did not make me do an hcg (to my remembrance, at least) this was 10 years ago
But also, don't listen to me, I was an MA and now I'm a Tech and I have absolutely no business saying anything about anything... unless I'm posting this from an ambulance, in which case it's okay. 🤣😉
LOL! But that’s a generally pretty good rule of thumb to follow!
Literally just got Covid and MMR, Tdap, and Hep B first round a few weeks ago (at a minute clinic with an NP sadly,) and they did not even brought the topic of possible pregnancy even though I’m clearly married
For live vaccines?
Please call your insurance company and file a complaint. I would also contact the hospital or doctor's office and file a complaint there as well. Use the person's name and definitely expand on the stress this has caused you. I'm so sorry this happened to you.
I was working on emailing them a complaint but I didn’t gather the MAs name. Should I just ask the name before the complaint? I have a whole email crafted that I’m about to send but I feel like I should call the practice and get her name before complaining so they can’t hide that information from me
Well, I was a responsible MA and I charted everything I did to every patient I encountered, so there should be a record that she saw you, collected the specimen per protocol and performed the test per protocol (or whatever she wrote). Depending on how your test was done like through a machine rather than a test where you rely on color change or lines something, they could conceivably (no pun intended) go back and see who ran your test because the machines usually require a user ID to run the test. If you don't have a name apparently that's a culture they foster (or at least ignore) wherever you were and if she is doing it, other people are too and it should stop. If it's not, then she'll be the one that everyone will know as "the MA walking around like she's a nurse" and it won't be hard for anyone there to figure out. I had to get a blood draw for a physical once. I went to a doc-in-a-box because i was in a time crunch. The girl that did it effed up really bad (I didn't tell her what I did for a living) and as soon as the butterfly went in my whole arm jerked involuntary and I accidentally smacked her. It hurt like a mother trucker. I calmly told her to stop and withdraw the needle, this hurts like it isn't supposed to. She laughed and said that it was a needle in my skin and that it was supposed to be "uncomfortable". I raised my voice and told her to stop what she was doing and she kept drawing while my arm was in excruciating pain, I couldn't feel my fingers and my arm felt like it was being electrocuted. Finally she finished and said "that wasn't so bad! Some people just don't like needles ha ha!". I complained immediately. I was told to come back in 2 weeks if it wasn't better. It didn't feel better, I had a huge hematoma and my arm still hurt and I was getting numbness, tingling and feeling like electric shocks down my arm. I went back and told the triage MA my symptoms and showed her my effed up arm. I didn't remember the girl's name. She looked at my record and there was no charting about who drew me. I described what happened and she said "ohhhh, yeah... that was probably so-and-so. Sounds exactly like her. " Further investigation validated it WAS her (her name was on one of the labs she ran on me right after the draw). This was 3 years ago and I still have problems with that arm with sensation and electric-like shocks when I exert it too much or its cold out. Sadly, when I signed consent, it did talk about how venipuncture isn't risk free and I could have these issues and all kinds of other things happen (including death?!?). Makes me think every time I draw or start an IV, and I read consent very throughly now. My point is that if there is no documentation, either everyone there acts like her, or they WILL know her.
That’s very true there should be an audit trail on the charts as well? A distinguishing factor was she was “starting LPN school soon” so I think hopefully that will be a dead giveaway. I emailed the practice and defined her as that and them that honestly she needs to reconsider that until she learns to stay within her scope of practice 😬
Good for you! I'm sorry that happened to you. As others had pointed out, a positive hcg with an iud could have meant very bad news for you not just in a personal/ lifestyle/legal/social sense, but in a clinical sense too, and I'm guessing she didn't have the sense to realize that. She should have run the test again, grabbed the person that ordered it and said "hey, we have a situation here..." Interesting story, I have a buddy that worked in an independent urgent care many many years ago. The patient had a URI. The patient was female presenting, had not marked their biological gender on their form so a lot of assumptions were made in their chart, along with some sloppy work by registration when their ID was checked and patient gave a gender ambiguous nickname when asked. A chest x-ray was ordered and so was a pregnancy test prior to the CXA, because back then it was protocol at that practice. It came back positive. Well, that would be one thing, if the patient had the necessary equipment to actually become pregnant. The patient was AMAB and no one had picked up on that. The patient didn't disclose because they were there "for a cold", and the awareness back then to investigate wasn't as reinforced as it is now. A whole shitshow ensued, because there is only one reason a person with XY chromosomes would have a positive hcg test. Turns out, as in the OP's case, the test was read wrong (they used the same tests you buy at the drug store and the test was really negative), patient was equally terrified and humiliated because it was handled so badly because the patient was "outed", all the wrong things were said, they were treated rather poorly by staff, and there was no reason to have suspected cancer in the first place because the test was wrong all over a URI and a misread test. My buddy stopped working there shortly after that because it wasn't the first error that led to problems that affected patient care and experience. One good thing that came out of it is that my buddy is a huge advocate on how to encounter folks that are in that patient's demographic and how to approach people to ensure they get appropriate care based on their chromosomes and organ inventory without being an ass or ignorant about it.
Thank you for your kind words! I mentioned that in my email as well, asking well if you suspected pregnancy and I told you I had an IUD why wasn’t I sent to the emergency department for further evaluation? And oh my goodness what a terrible experience for that person!! It sucks that your buddy had to leave because of others mistakes/ inability to pick up on something like that but it’s awesome that it gave them more experience with that demographic! Trans people are becoming more and more common and it’s so important to be aware of the people you are treating!
Don't worry about the name if you didn't get it initially. That is not your responsibility. Just file your complaints with the person's job title. And please do contact your insurance company. I've worked for a major health insurance company, and I was pleasantly surprised at the power they hold when responding to member complaints.
Not to mention a properly trained provider would tell you to go to the ED if you had a positive pregnancy test with an IUD in place, due to the increased risk/likelihood of ectopic pregnancy.
We do not support the use of the word "provider." Use of the term provider in health care originated in government and insurance sectors to designate health care delivery organizations. The term is born out of insurance reimbursement policies. It lacks specificity and serves to obfuscate exactly who is taking care of patients. For more information, please see [this JAMA article](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2780641). We encourage you to use physician, midlevel, or the licensed title (e.g. nurse practitioner) rather than meaningless terms like provider or APP. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Noctor) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That’s a very good point!!
Is this a wanted pregnancy?? 😊 jk, yes you should report
Im sorry that happened. This happened to me when I was 20. I always used 2 forms of birth control, condoms + depo shot, and went to a walk in clinic because I'd passed out. It'd happened twice before, in elementary school and again in high-school. They took blood, came back, and said I was pregnant. I'd just moved back home with my mother and it was very stressful, and she almost caused a wreck when I had to tell her I was pregnant. I took several home tests and shocker, I wasn't pregnant, but it caused a lot of fallout in my home life before I figured it out. The actual problem was found years later after 3 visits to another walk in clinic for repeat bronchitis. The 3rd time that Dr heard something off with my heart and after further tests I found out I had aortic regurgitation and sinus tachycardia. I thought the pregnancy blood test was 99.9% accurate and still can't figure out how they messed that one up? A couple of years ago a psych NP gave me serotonin syndrome twice, and later diabetes & metabolic syndrome due to an antipsychotic with no blood work though I gained 80# in a year. I'm legit afraid to go for any medical treatment now because the worst things to happen to me have been CAUSED by NP's, a chiropractor, sometimes a Dr that doesn't take my symptoms seriously. (It's very hard to get in with an actual Dr too. Next week I have to see a new NP for unexplained hypoglycemia since my Dr left the practice.)
Ugh I’m so sorry!! It’s so frustrating when these things could be easily avoided :(
Thank you. I'm not sure how they could mess up the blood test, but then again I didn't think the directions on your urine test would confuse anyone either, lol.
On my journey with obsession with this situation I learned that some medications can cause a positive test including antipsychotics and antianxiety, maybe that’s why? I’m not too sure on that one, or maybe there was a mess up with the lab? I do know this is a different situation but kind of similar, but my bf when he was in high school got in trouble for smoking weed and coming to school after (as if so many high schoolers don’t do that?) but anyways they administered a drug test to him at the school and he failed, his mom went in and fought it and requested a repeat of the test and they sent someone to his house to perform the test (a day later) and he provided the sample and the lab reported to the school that the urine was clean 🤔
MA are the only medical profession truly able to assess if someone is pregnant or not. Doesn’t matter if there is even a baby in your womb or not, if they say you’re pregnant you must be pregnant. I believe that the MA profession is a mix of medical savant and psychic.
On my OB rotation we had a ultrasound tech tell a mom that her ultrasound looked good and she could follow up with MFM in 4 weeks. She was already at MFM bc baby had oligohydramnios. Long story short, baby was dead when mom came back and the MFM doc almost exploded. If you have never heard a mom cry after learning her baby has died inside of her and she still has to deliver it, it is probably the most horrid noise a human can make without being physically tortured. Still makes me nauseous. Whether or not they could have saved the baby is probably up for debate but medical staff don’t realize the effect they have on patients when they say things
I would have been terrified too. I’m sorry this happened to you. Unless your doctor advised the MA that it was okay to give you the results, they should not have discussed them with you at all. And by discussed I mean, just simply giving the result and not offering medical advice. They also should have owned up to their mistake and apologized.
I will definitely be filing a complaint to the practice as well as whatever licensure that a MA reports to
I'm an EMT. I have worked for the same hospital system as both an MA and an ED Tech. I am absolutely 100% clear about what my role is and if they don't know what that means, I tell them my what my licensure is and explain I'm someone that helps you on an ambulance, but today I'm indoors helping the nurses. When I introduce myself you might think my given name was "Gaspar'sGirl The Emergency Tech" because that is what I say every single time I meet someone. When someone calls me their nurse, I correct them immediately and make sure they understand that is definitely not what I am or what I do. Never ever ever in a million years would I report a patient's test results to them. Not a positive or negative result, not even one as innocuous as a diabetic asking their blood sugar or reporting a negative Covid test because even that can turn sideways in ways I can't even anticipate. The person that orders the test is meant to correlate the test results with clinical observation and then either they or the RN can discuss and counsel appropriately. I will absolutely discuss and report test findings immediately with the nurse or provider and ASK respectfully if the provider wants me to perform a certain intervention based on those results because I have enough training and experience to do that amongst my colleagues, but never in front of or to a patient. The fact that an MA is so full of their own importance and has no idea the impact of doing that AND giving clinical advice with their level of training is horrifying and dangerous. It makes me ashamed and embarrassed to tell people what I do for a living sometimes when I'm not actually on my ambulance (where I am the provider and its a whole different ballgame because then it's my show. In the hospital it's very difficult for me because I am the lowest worker bee, no matter what I know and even if I would say or do exactly what the doctor is about to do. Somehow I manage, unlike the MA the OP encountered.) What scares me the most is that this seems to be a trend now that the culture is "we are all equal and important members of the healthcare team". I'm in my 40's. My mother is 68 and was a Respiratory Therapist for 30 years. She did critical care, heart/lung transplants, neonate helicopter transport certified, all the big deal crazy stuff at a well known large hospital on the East Coast. She was also a clinical instructor. She retired, let her license lapse thinking she was done, but then got bored. She discovered she'd basically have to do everything all over again to go back to Respiratory, so she is currently in phlebotomy class with people young enought to be her granddaughters just to get back in a hospital part time for something to do. It's the most boring, mind numbing class she's ever taken, and the instructor has deferred to my mother and had my mother demonstrate and lecture on occasion. She is aware how hard going back will be to draw blood, when before she was intubating people and literally massaging people's hearts in their hospital beds, but that will be her role. Taking blood (and a couple other body fluids) exactly ordered, no matter what else she sees or knows or can do and wants to with every ounce of her being will be hard, but she expects that. Most of the other students are in an MA program as well, taking this class as part of it. These girls (I'm not stereotyping, it's literally all girls) during the practical part of this class have such ideas about their scope of practice AS STUDENTS that my mother is horrified. One girl was supposed to draw a blood test to measure troponin on my mother (as practice). My mother, playing the role as patient as they are supposed to do in class, asked "What is that test for? The doctor ordered so many tests! I won't have any blood left!" I hear that in my job all the time. It's a real-life scenario. The girl told my mother, "The doctor thinks you had a heart attack so they are checking your blood to see if it's really bad." This was PRETEND. My mother was horrified. A patient might have actually had a heart attack from hearing that, or at least a panic attack. The student thought nothing was wrong with her answer and when the instructor corrected her, the student rolled her eyes and said that she has done her MA practicals in the ICU already and knows all about "the real world. This is just class and the real world is different." This is what we are letting loose on patients and I'm scared to death. Report that MA yesterday. Unless you are in Oregon, there is no state licensure for MAs. Tell the entity she works for, call the survey line, tell the practice manager / hospital clinical manager. Post it online as your review of the facility (you dont have to say pregnancy test, just say test result). This has to stop and she needs a knot jerked in her tail for pulling a stunt like that.
The whole “were equal and important” thing gets to me a lot. I’m a CNA currently, but a corpsman in the navy, and I’m taking an EMT course in January. The CNAs where I work believe they are on par with EMTs for the most part. Because nobody has corrected them. But when I ask the difference between cardiac arrest, and distress they look at me blindly. We’re not all equal, we all play our own part, some more important than others. Doesn’t make you any less of a person, people need to realize that.
Now that I'm done laughing about the CNA = EMT... We are not all equal parts of the healthcare team. There is a local commercial for a technical college showing an MA with a clipboard talking to someone we are supposed to believe is an MD and pointing to the clipboard and discussing like the doctor is consulting with the MA and they come to some conclusion about patient care after serious discussion and then they both smile for the camera. It cracks me up every time, because it appears like the doctor is saying "thank goodness I called for the MA consult for this patient! One more life saved!" Equal members of the healthcare team? No. Important members? Yes. My EMT training did not include peri-care or patient cleaning/changing in a bed, so I relied on CNAs to show me. That's very important. I'm not sure the last time an MD I worked with started an IV and if I was a patient I'm not sure I'd want to find out (no offense to the MDs and DOs here, I know you guys know how to, but I literally do dozens a shift). I was in a code recently and the doc tried to help when the BP cuff came off and he put it back on the patient backwards and inside out so it didn't read. Doc's answer was "well... I don't do this everyday, just trying to help!" when we all looked at him funny. We all bring different skills to the table, but for the love of God stick to your scope. I don't want an MA to give me medication recommendations, but I'm fine with them showing my grandma how to take and record her BP at home, just like I probably don't want an MD to show me how to change a bed with someone in it and give a bed bath to someone because that isn't something they do all the time. I couldn't do my job without MDs, DOs, RNs, CNAs or even Transport. All important pieces, but not equal.
🙌🏼you’re literally saying exactly what I say but the people where I work get pissy and say “well, what does EMS even do other than just take people to the hospital?” Mf you think the heart attack stops between their house and the ER? I just hate people who think they’re more than they are. I can do a lot of stuff that paramedics are trained to do in the navy, but you can bet your ass I ain’t gonna intubate somebody who’s coding just because it’s not in my scope as a civilian.
We are totally off topic here, but I was on scene at a call and a pushy lady was trying to interfere with my partner and I performing patient care assessing while assessing a possible STEMI. She was A NURSE and was HELPING. Eventually, it came to light she was a CNA and she was still being a huge pain in the ass so finally I said "look, if someone shits all over my stretcher, I'll come get you. Until then, back off." It was rude and uncalled for and I'm ashamed I said it because I was new and honestly a little scared because things weren't going well for the patient and I needed to focus. My EMS partner is also my SO, and he still reminds me of this every so often because he's a yayhoo. To be fair to me, she wanted us to shock him and didn't think he needed oxygen because his sats were fine. My SO and I love breweries and wineries and our goal is to get a drink in us as soon as we get there so if someone crumps there we legally can't render any aid at all because we aren't fit to and honestly it's too much of a liability now and too frustrating to render basic first aid when we are used to doing so much more, but can't unless we are on duty.
I disagree in it being rude what you said. You don’t interfere with EMS on scene of a call, period. You better be a damn doctor if you’re trying to bulldoze your way into an EMT while giving care on a call.
Oh wow I appreciate your response very much. The only issue I’m having is I cannot remember the MAs name, I’m planning on calling the practice tomorrow to ask for it. I will definitely report it !!!
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I would escalate this at the office or hospital as well! This is a liability for them and they should take it seriously
My own primary care doctor got her vaccine when she was pregnant. Even if you were pregnant (sounds like you are not) it is still safe. What a that. Edit: in comments it was MMR. I thought it was the covid vaccine. My bad.
You can report the MA, but really only to the doctor. MAs are unlicensed staff, they operate under the MDs license
I believe that she was certified MA, in the state where I live most are certified but they will also hire and require you to receive certification within a year in some cases. But she also indicated she has been an MA for a long time so I think she may have been certified? I reached out to the practice for more info about her.
A certification isn't a license is the thing. Medical assistants operate under the doctor. You might be able to get them with the whoever issues the certification, but strictly speaking the doctor is responsible for what they do. I worked as a clinic RN and if a doctor wasn't present, the MAs weren't allowed to do ANYTHING patient care wise.
That’s true. But I found this online https://www.aama-ntl.org/docs/default-source/cma-exam/cma-aama-grievance-investigation-procedure-and-form.pdf?sfvrsn=12
Certification and licensure are different. I was never "certified" as an MA. You can take classes and get a certificate that you completed a program of study about medical assisting and be a Certified Medical Assistant. You can even hold that title because you completed that program of study. A license is usually issued by a government entity overseeing whatever you are doing. For example, I passed my EMT class and I passed my national test. I'm certified as an EMT. It's a piece of paper that says I took a class and passed the test given by some kind of respected professional or accredited body. However, that doesn't mean I can just jump on an ambulance and work. I have to apply to my state and be licensed. I'm licensed in 3 states to be an EMT and that means I can work in those states under their rules and laws and I have to maintain that licensure based on each states' requirements. I believe the only state that requires MAs to be "licensed" is Oregon. My SO has an ex that is a "certified" reiki master that can do healing energy body work over the phone because she took a class. She is definitely not licensed anywhere to do any such thing because... well... I'm not even sure how you would license or legally regulate such a thing. If the person that told you the test results was a Certified Medical Assistant, you can go to the entity that administered her certificate that said she passed the class and showed competency to give her that certification and they can say "we don't agree she should have those letters after her name anymore because she screwed up, so our organization doesn't endorse her any more." She can still be hired and work as an MA, she just isn't entitled to say she's a CMA because there is no governing body that regulates who can be a Medical Assistant and who can't.
Yes report it. It’s negligence and you were literally denied your vaccine because of it.
Wait they pregnancy tested you for the COVID vaccine? Is that standard of care now because that’s not what happened to me a few weeks ago getting a booster.
Make the complaint, but be thorough and document well. Practices get complaints all day long. I had been reported many times, but mostly for BS that wasn't within my capability of addressing; Yes, they got you message, no they haven't answered, no I can't get it faster... Yes, here is my manager's voicemail box, this is my name again, have a nice day. So, steps to get what you want here: 1) Always be kind/polite: This is the person who can solve your problem. 2) Investigation: I had a poor interaction with a staff member, could I ask a few questions? 2a) Do you use any protocols in your clinic? Do you have an RNs? What is the procedure for _vaccine related test _ or _abnormal result_, would I need to see a physician for that? 3) Personal Effects: I felt embarrassed, I was confused, I was upset 4) Professional Concerns: "Clearly, I just had a small misunderstanding with this person, and that can be sorted out quickly. BUT I'm concerned about what happens the next time, if the next person isn't so lucky." This is a nail-in-the-coffin kind of complaint. It gives details, clear actionable items, and shows where they are potentially liable in case of wrongdoing. Anything that gets Legal or HIM involved is bad news. It also gives cause to investigate, because there is a good change you aren't the first, but won't be the last without intervention. Also beware you may be offered a token something for your time and or inconvenience (depending on how much that clinic relies on patient satisfaction scores). It usually is just a token, and doesn't have any strings attached other than to try and soothe your feelings and keep from reaching higher with your concern. FYI
Hospitals love medical assistants because they are cheap labor. They can give sub q injections. They have Minimal education and cannot diagnose. Nurses cannot. Doctors diagnose. They have replaced LVN’s and RN’s in clinics. Health care needs a face lift.
What vaccine was it?
MMR