At my boiling point...you are NOT a Nurse...of ANY kind!!!!

[nursehunnie]

Ok folks, I'm just about ready to lose it and I know it's a little silly..or it may seem petty...but just take my feelings into consideration.

I am SICK to DEATH of SOME Medical Assistants, CNAs, and Respiratory Therapists (etc.) calling themselves NURSES, or allowing themselves to be called nurses...or saying that they are getting their "RN". Are you KIDDING ME?

Before I start, let me begin by saying that I respect ALL health care workers and think you should be proud of what you are doing, going to school for, and what your title is. However, I have LOW tolerance for people who break the law and throw around a professional title/license. It's beyond ignorant and I'm wondering how it can be stopped.

I would NEVER in a million years, call myself a Doctor...or a Nurse Practitioner..because I am NOT one. I did NOT go to school for it. I am a Registered Nurse and PROUD of it. If anyone calls me Doctor, or ANYTHING else, I quickly correct them with a sweet smile on my face.

Examples of what I have heard/seen/witnessed/etc.:

" Can I speak to the nurse?" Medical Assistant" Speaking, How can I help you?"

" So excited for my first day of school, we did injections!" says the medical assisting student..friend asks "OH, nursing program?!"...medical assistant student says "Yep, sure is!".

"Nurse Sarah, when do you finish school?". Sarah says, "In 2 months"...Sarah is in a RESPIRATORY therapy program.

My friend says to me," I went to school to become a nurse and finished, but I decided I prefer Social Work." I ask, "Really, so you're a nurse, where did you go?" Friend replies "Yes, CNA Tech Institute".(fake name) Uhm, that's a well known 6 month CNA school. SERIOUSLY?

"I actually teach the nurses on my unit everything. I know more than them and have more experience.", says the Medical Assistant after I ask them why they are referring to themselves as "Nurse".

I can't even go on to tell you how much more I have witnessed. MANY of this is coming from my friends. I'm going to be REALLY honest with you guys. I am just heated. I worked my BOTTOM off in nursing school. I applied to a program with 600 applicants in line (which is STANDARD) and was accepted into ONE of 20 seats. I killed myself not to be flunked out and passed with an average 3.5 GPA. It was four years of GRUELING work and I feel I have earned the right to refer to myself as a Registered Nurse. I'm very proud of it.

I feel like other health care workers are SERIOUSLY making a JOKE of the nursing field throwing around the title as though we are a dime a dozen. Why can't they be proud of what they do? EACH of those fields is JUST fine..but WHY are you breaking the law and calling yourself a Nurse?

Can you imagine what would happen if I called myself a Doctor? Sorry, but that's ignorant and pathetic. I would NEVER do it. If this thread offends you, then please don't reply. It shouldn't be offensive unless you are one of the few health care workers who live a lie and call yourself a nurse.

How do we address this and stop this? Medical Assistants are the BIGGEST group I have witnessed this by. I have a LOT of respect for them and envy their position. They ENJOY their jobs...but why do SOME (not ALL), throw MY nursing license value around like that by claiming they are a nurse?

What do you do when it's a friend doing this?

What do you do when it's a health care coworker?

I already know what I would do if I was going to a Doctor's office and they did this. That's easy. It's the friend part that is hard. I KNOW it's silly to be upset..but I have never seen so much ignorance. Why did I work hard if someone else can call themselves a nurse and only went to school for 6 months? What did I work for? Other than the obvious paycheck and passion?! ha :)

[OCNRN63, RN]

The other day I was at the doctor's office and the nurse manager (an RN) introduced me to a "new nurse" in the office.

Yep, CMA. I wanted to say something to that RN, like, "You should know better," because she was even older than me, but I decided to bite my tongue. But it really bothered me that one of our own was doing this.

[Vikingkitten]

I wish it would become a federal felony.

Then if we heard it, we could report it immediately.

Or give them one "get out of jail free" card, remind them that what they did is in violation of the law, and if they screw up again, nail them.

It would be a great way for the government to raise some money.......

I feel the same way you do, because I'm a Retired Soldier (22 years+) , and if the Stolen Valor Act can't be enforced (on the whim of some Libtard Judge), then this wouldn't be enforcable anywhere either. After all, "it's protected First Amendment speech", acccording to a couple of "Judges".

In the small, rural town in Kansas I practiced in, every man was "Doctor" and every woman was "Nurse', to many Little Old Men and Women who lived there.

Just had to adjust.

My $.02

[VICEDRN, BSN, RN]

This must be getting worse as we are hearing about this more than ever. I personally have never witnessed it but I am wondering if the docs lean on the MAs in their office to identify themselves as nurses.

I heard verbatim from the office manager at my PCP's office that the office manager was directly instructed to tell the MAs to refer to themselves as nurses because only the term "Registered Nurse" is protected in my state and that they provide "nursing care" and that no one has exclusive "ownership" of the term "nursing" or "nurse" (for example, it is not a crime to say the patient is a "nursing mother" [using the other meaning]).

Docs are being more aggressive with referring to them that way...

[cbccern]

I graduated from LPN school back in June. Where I live, GPN's aren't hired so we are forced to work as Medical Assistants until we take our NCLEX. The day I was pinned I became a nurse. So yes, I answered to nurse even though my title was Medical Assistant. I just passed my boards a week ago but my title has not changed yet at work due to my license number not sent yet. So I continue to answer to nurse. Not all patients know the difference between CNA's LPN's MA's and RN's. The person who is called the nurse, but is in fact not, might not want to correct the patient for fear of embarrassing them. I know you meant to use this post to vent and educate non-nurses. But I think you came off as rude.

I don't think she came off as rude. She was venting about something that bothered her. I am not a LPN/LVN, but in my state of original licensure, you are NOT a nurse and are not legally permitted to call yourself a nurse until you have passed the licensure exam. Graduation from a nursing program does not make you a nurse, it makes you eligible to sit for the exam and sucessfully passing the exam makes you a nurse. I guess every state is different, since you look at your pinning ceremony as the day you became a nurse.

[himilayaneyes]

It's so true....everyone and their mother is a nurse. You talk to them and find out their a CNA or hospital secretary. RN is definitely a title you bust your butt to earn. The funny part is that if these "perpetrators" portray themselves as nurses and say go into someone's home to care for them as a nurse...they can prosecuted. Be proud of who you are. Maybe hospitals should make a list...CNA not a nurse, Unit secretary not a nurse, Janitor not a nurse, Resp therapy not a nurse, phlebotomist not a nurse, you plan on going to nursing school...still not a nurse. You graduated from nursing school...awesome...still not a nurse yet. Just b/c you work at a hospital or doctor's office..not a nurse. Nurse equals someone who passed the NCLEX-RN or NCLEX-PN and has a nursing license. Patients should start asking to see our nursing licenses since everyone these days is a nurse.

[smartnurse1982]

What about lpn's caliing themselves Rn? I know a lot that do but it doesn't make me angry. What makes me angry is when they try to justify doing it by saying"yeah but I know more than some rn's." Or "I do more work them theem,all they sit and do all day is paperwork."

[nursehunnie]

What about lpn's caliing themselves Rn? I know a lot that do but it doesn't make me angry. What makes me angry is when they try to justify doing it by saying"yeah but I know more than some rn's." Or "I do more work them theem,all they sit and do all day is paperwork."

I have NEVER in a million years heard of that. Not to say it doesn't exist. Most LPNs just call themselves a "nurse" period. Sorry, but this isn't a problem, at all, from what I have seen.

[DarkBluePhoenix]

Honestly I agree with the OP.

I would hate to work my butt off in NS while someone went to some trade school for a few weeks to become a medical assistant. They are NOT a nurse.

I don't think these people realize about the liability they take one when they claim to be something they are not. I mean, that is what school/board exams are for. So the right people with the correct titles can do the job right.

What if a CNA or an MA made a big mistake? The patient can turn around and sue that person and the facility! What a big mess!!!

So yes, I think these things should be brought up to a supervisor or the ADON/DON. And if doctors are doing it as well, I think they should be politely taken aside and corrected...how would they like it if they were called a nurse when they worked hard in medical school?

I agree with one other person on here, yes friends are good to have especially at the workplace, but if its the safety of the patient or correcting them, I will choose the safety of the patient. Just if you correct them just do it as politely as possible.

Just my thoughts

[vamedic4, EMT-P]

Your anger is justified, and for all of the reasons you have mentioned. You may feel (and rightly so) that by thier false admission of being nurses that it makes the role "easy to obtain", which you certainly know is not the case. You have worked hard and you passed the NCLEX and you are the nurse.

Don't get caught up in that drama, it will do nothing but eat you up inside. And it's really not worth the fight. They are putting themselves and your organization at risk by doing what they're doing. Notification of your DON or supervisor that this is happening is definitely in their best interests, as others have mentioned.

I have found it best to ignore those who aren't what they claim to be, they make themselves look stupid enough when pressed about anything that is far out of their educational range. As a paramedic for many years I have seen EMTs do this too many times to count. It's never pretty, but I find it highly entertaining (and frustrating just the same).

Deep breaths and leaving the scene of the crime work for me too...I don't want to be around when they say something ( or do something ) that leaves doubt in the eyes of patients or their families. And ultimately it is your DONs duty to everyone to make sure that nurses are nurses, therapists are therapists, and techs/aids are just that..and that they only represent themselves as such.

You are a nurse, obviously one passionate enough to want to protect her profession from those who seek to cheapen it. It's hard when others claim to have successfully done the same things you have but in reality have not. But at the end of the day- you know the truth.

All the best to you.

vamedic4

It was only 85 today. Wow.

[Otessa, BSN, RN]

To the OP, I agree!

Had one of my daughter's friend's mothers say she was a 'nurse' blah, blah, blah. She now works in a pharmacy answering phones. Something wasn't adding up (there are reasons I checked up)-she has NEVER been a nurse (looked on the BON website-she has never been in another state and I know her maiden name).

interesting.....

[anurseatlast]

I think many MA and CNA see little difference between what they do and what a nurse does. They do not understand that doing proceducres, etc is a very small part of being a nurse. Much of the assessment and critical thinking we do every time we are with a patient is invisible to them so they really don't understand the depth of the difference.

The difference is clear if you really ask them for more information, as someone previously said. I am frustrated when I talk to "Sally from Dr. Smith's office" (notice - doesn't claim to be a nurse but I am sure most people assume she is).

Sally: "We'll need to repeat that test in 3 months."

Me:"Why?"

Sally: "Well, because it is high."

ME: "Yes, it is barely out of the normal range. This is not something that changes quickly. Why would we redo it in 3 months?"

Sally: "Well, because it is high."

After several more tries, I decided it will be easier just to refuse until I talk to the doctor. Had she been a nurse, she would have been able to answer my question. She did not have the critical thinking skills to even understand why I was questioning it. As a patient, I am often frustrated when I talk to "Staff" who are not nurses. Even before I was a nurse myself, I found they rarely could answer my questions.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

When I worked in the ER as a tech, my coworker taught me the best answer (she was also a tech). When a pt or family needed something they would often call out "Nurse?" as one of us walked by.

She (or I) would walk into the room and say "Hi, I'm (name) I'm not a nurse, but maybe I can help you." We'd clarify that we are ER techs. If the patient just need a pillow or blanket or a drink, we'd confirm with the RN it was appropriate and take care of it. If the question/problem needed a nurse, we'd go find the assigned nurse and alert him/her. Same thing with base of knowledge, I learned a lot in the ER but I knew what was my "scope of practice". For example, even if I recognized a specific ECG arrhythmia, it was not my job to diagnose the patient. I'd bring the ECG tracing the RN and/or MD as appropriate.