"I work in the medical field"

Sour Lemon · Sep 10, 2016

I always assume they're a scrubs-wearing housekeeper or a cashier in a hospital cafeteria.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Sep 10, 2016

When someone tells me they work in the medical field my experience has been that it almost always is someone in a low level position- MA, CNA, dietary aid, trying to sound more knowledgeable than they are.

The other 5% of the time it's a physician who doesn't feel like giving out free medical advice at the party or assisting with the emergency on the plane.

quiltynurse56, LPN, LVN · Sep 10, 2016

I did have a friend who's job was a highly specialized position in the OR during certain types of spinal surgery monitoring the patient for a certain thing. I can't even remember what the position is called. As you can see, saying he worked in the medical field was much easier than trying to explain exactly what he did.

Libby1987 · Sep 10, 2016

It's a pet peeve of mine as well, albeit a lowly one.

Medical field is for someone who is s prescribing/ordering provider, healthcare is a more appropriate catch all for nursing and ancillary. In my opinion.

cayenne06, MSN, CNM · Sep 10, 2016

Yes, in my experience it is usually people with a non-clinical or unlicensed position, trying to be vague about their credentials. My patients do it sometimes, and usually I engage them on the topic, find out what they do, and make it clear I recognize the value of their work or training, whether they are a dietary aide, an MA, or what have you.

In my personal life, there are a few people who fancy themselves to be very much "in the medical field," with what they consider to be expert knowledge in their specific "medical specialty." In this case, it usually means practicing some form of complete and utter nonsensical alt med. Conversations with those people are fascinating, assuming they are willing to engage honestly, and they don't distrust me immediately because I am a thoughtless cog in the medical machine. I am usually given some street cred in that crowd because of my home birth background, so I use that as an "in" to try and gently and respectfully engage in conversation about the science of medicine. Or, on occasion, I might just be snarky and poke fun at them. I try to reserve that for close friends and family though :)

When I have the occasional alt-med practitioner (or even consumer) as a patient of mine, I walk a fine line between maintaining a trusting relationship, and following my ethical duty to provide the best, safest care I can. If they are trying to self treat their hypothyroid with freeze dried pig thyroids, ground and encapsulated, I am going to tell them that the data says such and such and I recommend such and such. If they balk at my offer of an HPV vax, I will ask why and I will provide them with accurate information. To do anything else would be patronizing; if a patient is in my office they are going to get the most up to date, science-based care I can offer. That doesn't mean I chastise patients and label them noncompliant; they can do whatever they want with the information I give them, but it is my job to provide that information so they can make a truly informed choice.

Wile E Coyote, ASN, RN · Sep 10, 2016

I bought a home in another town while keeping the same job in the original town. One night one of my kiddos needed ED care for respiratory issues. Of course, this means going to the nearest competent provider/facility. Since none of the staff knew me, I took the opportunity to remain anonymous...however, as we all know by the kind of questions I was asking, I wasn't doing a very good job. I deflected questions by answering along the same lines as OP's pet peeve. "I'm in the business" (Hey, it was 3 am and I was very tired, haha) This was met with healthy doses of side eyes from the staff, and more pressing questions. Later, after sleeping on it, I was sure they pegged me for a support staff trying to front.

Meh.

RiskManager · Sep 10, 2016

I tell people I work in 'healthcare administration', which is true, albeit a somewhat focused area of it. If I tell them my actual profession, it has been my experience that leads to people complaining about their hospital, their clinic, their provider, their nurse, etc.; or they start describing their care and asking me if they have a malpractice case; or they do work in healthcare, they get paranoid that I am going to report them for something, or they start describing a patient or situation and asking me for advice, which part I do not mind.

BSN16 · Sep 11, 2016

Just the other day i had something go wrong with a CRRT that i was managing. I explained in vague terms what was happening to the patient's family and she tells me "Now what exactly happened again, my daughter works in the medical field and i'm going to tell her about it"

Not sure if this statement was meant to intimidate me or impress me?

sevensonnets · Sep 11, 2016

Sometimes patients want to make the nurses shake in their shoes by casually dropping into the conversation "My daughter works in the medical field." So when daughter shows up I ask "Your mom says you're in the medical field. What hospital do work in?" Usually turns out they mop floors in a nursing home and occasionally they work in cosmetology and wear scrubs while they're doing nails or shampooing. I once had a very annoying patient and an equally annoying wife who claimed she was a cardiologist at a local medical center. The doctor asked her in front of the patient which cardiology group she was affiliated with and her husband said "What in the heck are you talking about? She is a secretary in my construction company." We never heard that lie or saw them again!

Sour Lemon · Sep 11, 2016

One of my patient's daughters kept mentioning that she was in "medical school" (MA school). She frequently left "expensive" clothing, spread out on the mother's bedside table, with the price tags till attached. She also encouraged her mother not to worry about health issues, because they'd soon be able to "buy her a new body".

The same patient had another relative working at the hospital who the patient's daughter referred to as "the RN-BSN". He was a CNA.

Unreal.

sevensonnets · Sep 11, 2016

I had a patient years ago who claimed to be a nurse in the operating room of a nearby med center until a nurse who actually worked there came along. She knew him very well. He was really an OR transporter who was fired and arrested for stealing from nurses and patients. She knew this because her purse was one of those he stole. When he was being discharged one of the NAs caught him packing up the towels, toilet paper and soap. He also had a big garbage bag full of sheets, the spread off his bed, silverware, coffee cups, glasses, a box of gloves, and somebody's stethoscope! A really desperate "RN"!