Healthcare Jobs

I get a lot of questions on what different staff do and who they are. I've tried to provide a brief overview below.

An MA is a medical assistant with about 6 months of schooling. These staff typically room and discharge patients, take vitals, and do general office work for their provider. An LPN (licensed practical nurse) is in between an RN and an MA in skill level and can do some nursing functions with care plans from RNs or from protocols. They get about a year of schooling and can also do anything an MA can. An RN is a registered nurse who can operate under the verbal orders of a provider, operate outside of protocols as necessary within their scope, and use more critical thinking skills. The minimum education is about 2 years.

I use the term provider to describe physicians and allied health (nurse practitioners (NPs) or physician assistants (PAs)). Physicians are skilled at a high level and can have their own practices under their own license. Allied health staff are also highly skilled, and can do almost anything a physician can with limits and differences. There are two main differences between a PA and an NP: 1. An NP has to have been a registered nurse at some point. Some people go straight from nursing school to get a bachelor's an then on to an NP, but at some point in there the nurse had to become registered. 2. An NP can practice on their own, while a PA must practice under the license of a physician.

I hope that gives you a good overview. This is not to be all inclusive, but generally helpful information.