Next Level Medical Assisting

Working with providers of all credentials can be intimidating, particularly if you are just starting out in the medical field. Just as any other profession, they will have many different types of personalities and a lot definitely have their quirks, just like a lot of us MA's. Communication is key and its important to remember that we are, quite literally, their assistant. The focus of the MA's job should be to make the providers job easier and more fluid. And yes, more often than not, that means taking on more stress so the provider can take on a little less.  Hopefully this episode can help some of you become more aware of your relationship with the provider you are working with, whether it changes often or if you have been with the same one for years. 

In this episode I talk about my experience as a float MA throughout my career, particularly during this extraordinary time when staffing issues are unprecedented. Floating can be a little bit of a divided issue between MA's, some enjoy it, some don't mind it, and some really do not prefer to do it. I go over some of the things that can be pros or cons when you're a float MA in a clinic and how there is a lot you can learn from it as well as long as you are open-minded. As always, feedback at [email protected] or on Twitter @NLMA_Official is appreciated and encouraged! 

Thank you everybody for coming back to NLMA! I apologize for the unplanned absence recently, life kind of happened and I have been trying to deal with things that have come up, unfortunately that didn't leave a lot of time or energy for NLMA, but I am happy and excited to be back and I appreciate your patience.  In this episode I basically reflect on my experience in journey to become a Medical Assistant and my overall experiences since then. I also got some feedback that I should use more of my "natural" deep voice, so I have attempted to defer to that for this episode. I have realized however that I need to speak louder and I will work on this in future episodes.  There is not a lot of usable content on this episode but sometimes it can be helpful for somebody in the field to express their thoughts and feelings about what they have been through, and that's more or less what this is.  As always, feedback welcome and encouraged to [email protected] or @NLMA_Official on Twitter. Thank you!

Welcome back to NLMA, this is the start of Season 2! This is my first episode with a new, updated microphone and audio interface, apologize if the sound is off, I am still trying to figure out how best to use it, but I'm hoping it will make future episodes much more clear. Happy Medical Assistant Recognition Week 2021 and thank you for coming back to join me for another episode. This episode will be about the scope of practice for MA's, although less about the specific skills we are legally allowed to perform and more about being open to trying new things and expanding our horizons and experience, while also being careful to stay within the legal parameters of what we are allowed to do as an MA. I hope you enjoy this episode, I am excited for what's to come. Thank you for listening!

This is a special episode to celebrate MAR Week 2021. MA's are so important, we work so hard to care for our patients and ensure our providers get what they need. Some form of medical assisting has been around for a very long time and its exciting to see where the profession has come to and even more exciting to see where it is going. THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO! IT MATTERS TO YOUR PATIENTS AND IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE! YOU ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED AND AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM!

This is the last episode of Season 1. I can't thank everybody enough for taking the time out of your days to listen, especially in this day and age when we have so many other things we could be doing with our, its very much appreciated! Please, please, please send me feedback on what you heard this season and what you would like to hear next season. Feedback can be given either by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NLMA_Official.  Thank you so much to every healthcare worker out there, this world would be in a much worse place without every single one of you. You are valued and appreciated and your good work is not unnoticed.  Stay safe everybody and I look forward to being back with you in about 1-2 months for Season 2.  Thank you!

This episode is twice as long the others! I apologize, it wasn't intended to be. But I will be honest and say that I do intend to make all episodes longer than 30 minutes eventually but I didn't mean this one to be that way, but it was necessary to include all the appropriate information.  Rooming patients is the essence of what most MA's do. Taking vitals, review medications and getting the chief complaint, it seems so simple but to be done proficiently and correctly it take some finesse. In this episode we discuss the overall process and how it can go. I fully acknowledge that the rooming process can vary quite a bit depending on the clinic you work and the specialty you work in but the overall concept is usually the same. I hope this is helpful for everybody and I would be ecstatic to hear feedback about your specific process where you work, and if anybody is interested in being a guest on a future episode please send me an email at [email protected]. I was nervous my first time too but I really enjoyed it :D

This is a continuation of the episode 7 with further advice and examples of how we can provider next level service to our patients. I cannot express how important this is and the positive impact it will have on your job life as well as your patients lives. I completely understand that every clinic or hospital is different and the patients they see will vary wildly, however I have worked in multiple different settings and with different demographics of patients and the approach discussed in this episode works with all of them. I realize its hard to see how could benefit you in the long run given what we go through every day, but I challenge you to try it. But try it with meaning and compassion, I don't mean to just pretend your being nice, actually WANT to give Next Level Service. I am not telling you its easy, but its the right thing to do for the patient, yourself and for you company.  I want to thank every person that has been a role-model for me in my life that has ensured I view customer service as so important. Whether in food service, grocery, clinical or retail, I have had some exceptional coworkers to learn from and have much admiration for them!

Customer service is in my opinion one of the most important aspect of what we do in healthcare, after safety of course. Its under utilized and underappreciated and has such an impact on the patient's experience that it really should be more of a focus at every clinic. It takes skills such as empathy, humility, compassion and forgiveness as well as understanding that at times it is necessary to sacrifice a small part of our convenience to facilitate the needs of the patient. These are things that are not easily learned and are not necessarily taught in school. At times it can require us to react completely opposite than what our minds are telling us. But believe me, the ability to express these emotions and to follow them up with your equal actions will completely change the patients experience and opinion about your entire clinic and, believe it or not, will actually help you save time in the long run

For a lot of Medical Assistants its a common part of our job to administer vaccines to patients under the age of 18. Unfortunately, most of us do not get to experience or practice this in school due to the legal liability issues as well as the difficulty in finding parents willing to permit their children to get vaccines from students. This situation present a different obstacle than we are used to in that the patients are often times not in agreement with what's going to happen, as well as having the parents in the room observing what is happening. In this episode I discuss different approaches to patients of different ages and some positioning and distracting tips but there is so many variables that ultimately how exactly it plays out each time will differ. Always remember that the patients fear is real and their feelings should be taken into account. Hopefully this episode is helpful to you the next time you encounter a pediatric or adolescent patient at the visit for vaccines.