What is the difference between Medical Assistant and CNA?

A medical assistant gives the doctors and medical staff support and helps them with their clerical and managerial duties. They help with record-keeping, utilizing and preserving medical instruments, collecting blood and urine samples, preparing patients for lab testing, and taking care of the patients' prep work such as cleaning them, feeding them, and taking their vital signs.

CNA, on the other hand, stands for Certified Medical Assistant. This MA is an assistant to a nurse and performs a wide array of duties to help the nurses to minimize their workload. Besides taking someone's temperature or checking patients' blood pressure, a CAN is a caregiver to several patients who may not be severe but need assistance to complete their hygiene or maintenance.

A medical assistant is someone qualified to help the doctor with any clerical and administrative duties. They utilize and maintain medical instruments; they collect the samples of blood and urine for laboratory analysis. They also prep the patients by cleaning them, feeding them, and making sure all paperwork is accurate and current.

CNA, on the other hand, stands for Certified Nursing Assistant. This person is an assistant to the nurse, and they perform a plethora of duties. They take vital signs, such as checking the patient’s temperature and taking their blood pressure.

CNA is a caregiver to a category of patients who do not necessitate very involved treatment, but they require assistance to some extent. Medical assistants are allowed to perform more of an administrative and clerical role for the doctor, while CNAs provide more of the role of a nurse.

Some people become confused between the medical assistant and the CNA, probably because their line of work seems to be the same at first glance. When you say CNA, this means that you are a hospital certified medical assistant. You will get the chance to work with patients all the time.

In fact, you will be working with patients every time you work. You can also help in the maintenance of the room of the patients. When you are a medical assistant, you would be able to work with patients sometimes, but there will also be moments when you will be asked to do administrative tasks.

Some people say that being a medical assistant can be fun when you cannot decide between doing admin work and getting in touch with patients.

CNA stands for certified nursing assistant. This title, along with medical assistants, both work in the medical field. They are both seen as the first steps to entering the medical field. One of the differences between the two is the amount of time it takes to obtain a certification to become one of these assistants. To become a CNA, a person can obtain certification within four weeks of study. The length of time to become a medical assistant takes much longer than that, for it takes anywhere from 9 to 12 months to obtain a certification. Another difference is related to the work they do. CNAs almost never have any administrative work, while medical assistants have admin duties such as working with billing.