Some careers in healthcare take years to train for, but you can become a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) or Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) in less than 12 months. Each role has a unique set of rewards and responsibilities. Which is right for you? Let’s find out.
Why Does Someone Choose to Work in the Healthcare Field?
There are common interests that attract most people to the medical industry. You’ll enjoy a career in healthcare if:
You’re Passionate About People
Medicine is patient-centered, so whether you’re pushing wheelchairs or insurance paperwork, people are the reason for what you do. If helping others makes you feel productive and gratified, few fields offer as many opportunities as possible to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.
Frontline medical workers support both individuals and communities, laying the foundation for a healthier future. Regardless of your role in the industry, you’ll create positive change.
Science and Medicine Intrigue You
Healthcare is a technologically advanced, science-driven field. If you’re fascinated by biology, engineering, or medicine, you’ll see it evolve in real-time. So, why not get a front-row seat as a medical insider?
You Thrive on Teamwork
Healthcare is a team sport. As a CMA or LVN, you’ll work with a multidisciplinary team of professionals from doctors to therapists that offer patients the best in care. Everyone has input and by working together, health outcomes improve. It’s a welcoming and supportive environment in which staff consistently reports higher job satisfaction rates than in most industries.
Busy Isn’t a Four-Letter Word
There’s never a dull day in healthcare. Fast-paced and challenge-filled, no two shifts are alike. The work is predictable enough to not be overwhelming yet diverse enough to keep your mind and body engaged. Few jobs leave you feeling as productive at the end of the day.
What Is the Difference Between a CMA and an LVN?
Nurses are licensed professional caregivers while medical assistants are certified allied health professionals. What’s the difference?
LVNs primarily have a clinical role in medical facilities while CMAs manage both clinical and administrative duties in office settings. Let’s take a closer look at what they do.
What Does a Certified Medical Assistant Do?
Certified medical assistants work at hospitals, clinics, and private practices, saving doctors and nurses time by tackling a broad range of clinical and clerical tasks, such as:
Rooming Patients
Medical assistants escort patients to examination rooms or treatment areas. They use the time to make clinical observations, review instructions for the visit and update medication and allergy lists.
Taking Vital Signs
Medical assistants take patients’ temperature, blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate, and peripheral oxygen readings at each visit. Trends mean more than single readings, so vital signs are taken at each visit to track changes.
Triaging Phone Calls
Medical assistants are trained to handle medical calls, screening patients for symptoms that require urgent care. They help gather information and prioritize patients based on their needs.
Performing Diagnostic Tests
Patients no longer have to go to the hospital to have simple diagnostic tests performed. Medical assistants can take electrocardiograms, draw blood, and perform tuberculosis testing.
Administering Medications
Medical assistants may administer vaccinations and routine medications in an office setting under the immediate supervision of a clinical professional.
Sanitizing Exam Rooms
Medical assistants protect patients against contagious illness by sanitizing surfaces and shared equipment between visits.
Assisting with Procedures and Aftercare
Medical assistants help doctors perform minor surgical procedures by setting up the proper equipment and serving as an extra pair of hands. They can also manage routine aftercare, including suture removal and light dressings.
Maintaining Medical Records
Data is everything in healthcare, but it needs to be handled carefully. Medical assistants keep records updated and properly secured while managing referrals and responding to other requests for information.
Patient Communication and Education
Serving as the doctor’s liaison, medical assistants manage most patient correspondence. While they can’t dispense clinical advice, they can reinforce the doctor’s treatment plan and help educate patients on health matters.
Billing and Other Clerical Duties
Medical assistants are trained in billing, coding, and office procedures, so when they’re not busy with clinical duties, they fill their downtime by wrapping up clerical tasks.
What Does a Licensed Vocational Nurse Do?
LVNs work in nursing homes, assisted living centers, clinics, hospitals, private homes, and to a lesser extent, doctor’s offices. Although documentation is part of their job, their role is typically more clinical than administrative and centers on hands-on personal care. In general, an LVN’s responsibilities include:
Assessing Patients
Vocational nurses serve as a doctor’s eyes and ears, assessing patients and collecting key data upon which they can make treatment changes.
Assisting with Activities of Daily Living
Vocational nurses help physically, and cognitively impaired patients eat, dress, bathe and use the toilet, assisting with all aspects of mobility from transferring patients using mechanical lifts to helping them walk with adaptive equipment.
Psychosocial Support
Nursing is a holistic practice in which patients’ psychosocial needs are as important as their physical needs. LVNs, provide emotional support for patients and their families, assisting with therapeutic recreation and education.
Administering Medications
LVNs have more pharmacology training than CMAs because their role includes medicating unstable patients with only distance supervision. They can make independent decisions based on flexible orders, such as giving or withholding certain medications if the patient’s heart rate is too slow, for example.
Performing Treatments
Vocational nurses perform more complex treatments than CMAs from administering tube feedings and inserting urinary catheters to changing complex dressings. It’s an ideal skill set for nursing facilities, hospitals, and home care.
Documentation
LVNs document changes in a patient’s condition and what they provided for care. The goal is to create a running record of events for other nurses and the physician to follow. Unlike CMAs, however, LVNs are rarely involved with billing issues.
How Do You Become a CMA or LVN?
An easy way to prepare for either role is to attend a vocational school program. The curricula cover what you need to know to prepare for the licensing or certification exam. Whether you want to become a CMA or LVN, CyberTex Institute of Technology has the right program to prepare you for healthcare.
Final Thoughts
Whether you choose to become an LVN, or CMA should depend on your aptitude and preferences. If you prefer bedside care, consider becoming an LVN. If you like the office environment and enjoy dabbling in administrative work, being a CMA may be more satisfying. But regardless of your role, you’ll be making a positive impact in others’ lives and strengthening your community at the same time.
Certified Medical Assistant Program
The Medical Assistant Training Program at CyberTex Institute of Technology takes great care of every student providing hands-on training, practical experience and support it takes to get started in a medical assisting career without spending years in school. Students learn the basics of both clinical and administrative skills. Clinical skills include but are not limited to the following: taking medical histories, preparing patients for examinations, assisting the physician during the exam, collecting, and preparing laboratory specimens, drawing blood, and taking electrocardiograms.
Licensed Vocational Nurse
Classes for the VN program are conducted in a student-friendly atmosphere conveniently located in Austin, Texas. After graduating from the Licensed Vocational Nursing program, students can apply to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN), become a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), and start their exciting new career immediately.
Contact us today to learn more about our CyberTex campuses.