can an rma work as a school nurse if she is working along side an rn

Your Professional Title/Credentials: rma

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? yes

That is something I have been wondering about,MAs in school nurses positions. I know there is a poster on here who does this and I was wondering how does an MA work as a "nurse" somewhere,on her own. In other words,how do you get a job doing this,or do you have to work WITH a nurse (which I don't think happens,it's usually a one person job). I tried to get into the local prison farm and found out that they only take RNs. That's true at a lot of places.

If you're an MA working alongside an RN in a school setting, then I would guess you would be considered a health aide or health assistant. If there is already an RN on site, then I don't think there's any reason for you to be in the school nurse position since that's obviously already filled by the RN.

By the way - you can't call yourself a nurse unless you are an RN or LPN. State boards of nursing are very particular about that.

I work in an elementary school. My position is titled Health Aide and I work alongside an LVN.

All school districts have different requirements for their positions. Some don't have a nurse on campus full time because that position is shared between schools and it's a health aide handling the site alone (although the nurse is always available to consult; some charter schools don't have a medical professional at all and it's someone up in the office who handles medical issues.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: CMA

Hi,

Yes, you can work with a school Health Office. I work with a nurse. My title is Medical Assistant. Job Duties are basic first aide with continue training in defibs and epipens *food allergies* and this is a must, schools have alot of paperwork.....lots.....they are in the process of computerizing everything and with my background in comps, yes, I am training the nurses and entering data in the programs. I love my job, the kids, the computer and would not change it for the world. If you are looking for pros and cons well, the pay is lower than some of my hospital jobs but I think it is a great trade because my stress level is less and I have summers off and get out everyday at 3:00 pm. Yipeeee!

Your Professional Title/Credentials: Medical Assistant

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? yes

Thanks for the input. Its good to hear that you were able to find a job that you love. What kind of school do you work in? Is a very large school? I am wondering if some of the smaller schools here would take on a RN AND a MA.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: MA

Are You Still In School? yes

Are You Working? no

What I would like to know is,can an MA work ALONE in the school nurse position,or does a RN always have to be assigned there also?

Hi,

I work in a school with 549 students and growing. As far as working alone in a school, it is not possble where I work and the reason is simple: I am not authorized to admin. meds. We have currently in our school a dozen daily meds (most ADHD) The cold weather is coming and that increases use of inhalers. Lets not forget about food allergies. Migraines tx with meds. I can not work in this school alone due to the med issue. This is the only issue though so check with your area and see if they admin meds in the school. You do need to be certified in cpr/basic first aide/difibs training and or course EpiPen(some schools are peanut free and Epipen is not and issue) Admin. Good Luck.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: Medical Assistant

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? yes

I think this is another really good issue for backing "certificaton" or "licensure" of MAs: medication administration.

MAs are well qualified to administer med, escpecially is they are certified through the AMT or AAMA. I am a MA instructor and my students are really confused as to why they can "give a shot" in the doctor's office but no where else. It all has to do with working under the doctor's license in the office.

In view of the current "nursing shortage", the "shortage" allied health professionals far exceeds that of nursing shortages.

This is a good thing to think about. Why could not a MA that is certified to give meds, do so in settings outside the doc's office? I say let's go for it.

I was a medic in the USAR and USA for 8 years and gave LOTS of medicines to ailing troops. Many times there was no doc or PA around - the medic was the only one at the aid station. Of course, I realize the liability for armed servies differs than that of the civilian population.

However, this is another really good reason for MAs to get certified and licensed. It opens the door for more technical duties, hence increased pay comparble with LPN and RN.

Let's get to work on it people and promote our profession and professionalism!!!

Your Professional Title/Credentials: BSE; RMA(AMT)

Are You Still In School? no

I'm in PA. Here, you can't even get into a school as a health AIDE (assisting the nurse) without being a LPN. You have to be a RN here to be a school nurse. At least that's my understanding from all of the ads I've seen here for those positions.

Lorraine

Your Professional Title/Credentials: CMA

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? yes

Same here in Oklahoma. You must be an RN to be a school health nurse. It all goes back to laws of dispensing meds and making assessments.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: BSE; RMA(AMT)

Are You Still In School? no

Hi there, I was typing "school nurse" in a search engine and this thead popped up. I worked as a health assistant in an elementary school. Out west the "school nurse" has to be an RN, and in some states BSN is required because in reality it is a community health setting and BSN nurses get more exposure and education for that realm, though all RN's will have some education in the theory and application of that theory. How it works is that one nurse is assigned to a certain number of schools and oversees the health assistants (MA's,CNA's usually). You have protocols to follow and will check in with the nurse for anything out of the ordinary. Meds are given and and first aid. Lots of lice checks and helping the nurse with immunization compliance. It was a fun job. I can't imagine that an MA would be able to fly solo though because of the assessment, education etc... needed. However it is a place where you feel like you have great autonomy because the nurse is usually not on site all day or even all week. LPN's in the schools out this way usually work as special needs nurses that have a few high risk students in the special ed classroom assigned to them personally as they need more one on one nursing care. They also have a registered nurse that oversees their care as needed. Hope this helps!

Your Professional Title/Credentials: RN student (also carry a CNA certification required by my college)

Are You Still In School? yes

Are You Working? no

Hey, pooh - I think this is really neat to hold this type of job. As always, MAs (especially those certified) as well-educated and capable of performing those duties. It's just that in some states, laws have been enacted that make it possible for only LPNs or RNs to perform such duties.

How nice to see there are so many areas where MAs can obtain employment. And so many "nurses" think we are of no benefit to the healthcare community.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: BSE; RMA(AMT)

Are You Still In School? no

In the interest of sull disclosure, I should probably let you all know that I am not a medical assistant, I am an R.N. student. I do think that a nurse is needed for supervision over the schools. We have kids and families with very complex needs and a nurse is needed to handle a lot of the counseling with families and paper review, education etc... But for everyday workings of the health office, I see no reason why MAs can't do that, and do it well. It is a fun job and I think more of you guys should look into it and see if your area hires MAs. As always with schools though, the pay is usually slightly less than you can get elsewhere, but still good, and of course the hours are great! Nice that you guys have a site to discuss your issues. I will probably take off though because I can see that there is a lot of venting about the "nurses" lol.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: RN student

Are You Still In School? yes

Are You Working? no

Hey Pooh,

I am wondering if I could have some information from your school position. I also work in a school and would like to have more MA positions opened with in the school district here. Is it possible to obtain an job description/job educations need/ how you functions alone in a school?

I think if I could get this information and present it to the School Committee I maybe able to open some doors here. It is worth a try

Let me know
Thanks

Your Professional Title/Credentials: Medical Assistant

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? yes

I don't work anymore, because I am a student. We went through a 1-2 week training. We got a notebook with all of our protocols for what to do in what situation. When to call the parents, the nurse etc... Went through all of the forms that we used. Medication administration (which you guys will know already) Anaphylaxis and epipen info, how to chart, and the types of descriptions to use and what sorts of conclusions that you can and cannot make. Functionally you used your judgement unless there was an objective sign/symptom that required a specific action based upon your protocols. The nurse who is the supervisor also let us know wha they personally wanted to be called for, and any extra things they were interested in. Other than that, I called parents for things that I felt I would want to be notified about as a parent I practice CYA charting and am very thorough and will send a note home for many things. Never hurts! We also coordinated with the teachers to get meds to children going on field trips, we reported any injury trends to the nurse and to the principal to see if there are hazards on the playground or within the school that need to be addressed, first aid duties etc... The important thing is to know what is within your scope of practice in this setting and what is not, and that will be clearly laid out for anyone starting a position like this. (At least it was for us) If you are interested in a position like this, I would start by calling your local school district and inquiring as to whether or not they staff their schools with full time nurses at each school, if not then find out if they have positions open for assistants. Do some digging around, you may come up with something.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: RN student

Are You Still In School? yes

Are You Working? no