Wear scrubs in a hospital? Then you're a nurse

Nurses General Nursing

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I'd like advice and tips on how to better handle the following type of scenerio better.

I was talking with my mom and several of her sisters the other day. Turns out one of my aunts (not present that day) is going to start a surgical tech certificate program. I knew about this because my aunt had discussed it with me, knowing that I'm going to school to be a nurse. Anyway, one of my aunts didn't know that I knew about it. So she tells me that Aunt Mary is going to become a "surgical nurse in only 8 months." So anyway I said I think that it is fantastic that Aunt Mary is going to become a surgical tech. Then another aunt said no...surgical nurse. So I explained that I think it's great what she's doing - I was just pointing out that Aunt Mary's program isn't a nursing program, it's a surgical tech program. I said that each program is deserving of respect in their own right - they are just different. So it goes on, and I hear things like "she'll be working in the operating room - helping with the patients. Of course she'll be a nurse." To which I said, again, "each is a separate profession deserving of respect. We have many different professions in the hospital such as respiratory therapy, speech therapy, etc. Nobody is better...I'm just saying the jobs are different..she's not going to be a nurse, she's going to be a surgical tech. Legally a nurse is someone who is a licensed LPN or RN." Then I explained that it is such a serious issue that the state board of nursing prosecutes anyone who holds themself out to be a nurse and isn't a licensed nurse.

Well it ended in a ruckus with one aunt saying I was acting superior to Aunt Mary "who is going to be a surgical nurse!" So I grinned and said "Oh so anyone - read female - in scrubs who works in a hospital helping doctors -read god-like males - is a nurse then?"

I'm sure I'm not the first to have this sort of conversation. Any tips or extra special ways of explaining this? I should mention that I call (to myself, nobody else!) one of these aunts NE. As in National Enquirer. She thinks in those terms. Not the brightest bulb. She gave me the hairy evil eye the rest of the night. What surprised me is that two of my other aunts seemed mad at me for clarifying that Aunt Mary is going to be a surgical tech and not a nurse.

Better ways of explaining this?

There are tons of people out there who think this way. They don't understand was nursing really is and have no idea that using the term "nurse" loosely is actually against the law. Do you know how many babies we admit to the NICU where the family informs us that "the mom is a nurse" so then we talk to her like a nurse - use medical terms, etc. When she acts confused, it's then that we come to find out that it's not the mom, it's the aunt or grandmother they meant to say was a "nurse" instead. Okay, fine, but then it comes out that she isn't a nurse either - just works in a nursing home and isn't even a true CNA. But they don't get that there's anything wrong with throwing that term around.

Must be why visitors sometimes say to us, "So did you have to take a class to be a NICU nurse after high school or something?" and when we explain that we all went to college and many of us have our Bachelor's degrees, they look at us like we're crazy. :uhoh3:

using the term loosely is not illegal for laypeople - what is illegal is if you portray YOURSELF as a nurse ( or doc etc) that there will be trouble. any normal person would not get in trouble for calling someone a nurse if they aren't. and as for talking to mom or anyone in medical terms when they come in because they are in the medical profession is a pet peeve of mine- i explain to ALL my families and residents who work in the health field as if they were laypeople. when one is upset - say like this weekend when granddad was dying - i wasn't in the mood to be thinking about stuff in the medical terms as i was tired up over 2 days brain not quite thinking straight - so i think its best to always treat everyone as if they are laypeople and explain in terms that are simple and especially complete. not to mention just cause someone is a nurse doesnt guarantee they know what you are talking about - maybe never heard of disease or terms ( not everywhere uses same terms for everything) - in my opinion just courtesy to be simple and not expect sick patients or tired and weary family to grasp the bigger stuff even if they do know it.

"So I explained that I think it's great what she's doing - I was just pointing out that Aunt Mary's program isn't a nursing program, it's a surgical tech program. "

Just a thought............if your family is like my family, is it possible that it dosen't matter what you do or what Aunt Mary does but only that YOU will never measure up to Aunt Mary never, ever? In other words, it isn't about being or not being a nurse. I had a SLIGHTLY similar experience with my aunts and a certain cousin. They were always singing her praises and explaining to anyone who would listen that "Jody" was having SUCH a rough time in college, (her unranked liberal arts college-no offense meant to the general reading public here on this fourm!) but doing amazingly well considering her challenges, etc, etc, However, not a WORD of encouragement to me as I struggled for my BS degree in my choosen field at a University ranked 3rd in the country for that degree! I finally learned to laugh and not cry!:banghead: :chuckle It dosen't matter what I do or don't do in this life. "Jody" will ALWAYS outrank me!!!

know that feeling!!!!

Specializes in OR, PACU, Pre-Op, CCU, Pain Mgmt.

You people are waaaaaay too uptight...

If I call myself a glow-in-the-dark 3 Musketeers bar, does it make me a glow-in-the-dark 3 Musketeers bar? (This is a rhetorical question. Because, obviously, to be a glow-in-the-dark 3 Musketeers bar, it takes quite a bit more effort and training than just being a regular 3 Musketeers.)

I know what you are talking about.

I work on a Pedi unit and I have to admit that it angers me more than a little when I get a young mother with a sick child that discribes herself as a nurse for Dr. so-and-so. I then go to talking to her about her baby's problem using proper technical terms and she gets a blank look on her face. Finally it comes out that she has little or no schooling. She might be a CNA, a Medical Assitant. or just someone hired and traind in-house to work in the doctors office.

The worst part of it is that if I am not mistaken, it is legal in Texas for her to do so!

Aren't LPN programs 9 months long?

Locally at Nichols career center it is.

Is it possible there is some sort of LPN/surgical tech combination program?

I guess it depends on the area you live in. The LPN programs around here are 18 months long

18 months to become an LPN?? Seems a bit excessive. Longest one I knew of was 12 months, because they allowed breaks. Only ones in my area are 10 months long.

Honestly, at 18 months, I'd have to think most would just go the extra year or so in an RN program!

I think part of the reason the public associates anyone in scrubs with nursing it that a lot of people in scrubs misrepresent themselves as nurses.

Most CNA's I know tell me that they are nurses. I say, oh I thought you were a CNA? They retort nastily that they are nurses too and they worked in a very long and hard program to get that title.

They don't realize that I am in a CNA course. I know how "long" and "hard" you have to work to become a CNA, and it isn't anything compared to what it takes to become a nurse. Heck, the pre-reqs for Nursing are WAY more difficult than the CNA course.

Please don't take this as putting down people who are CNA's, techs, or anything else. I don't mean it like that. It just irks me when these people get all high and mighty like they have a nursing license when it really is just a 75 hour course. I work very hard in my school work, and it is going to take me a long time to become a nurse, and would hate to think that someone who took one short, easy course would act like they are better than me.

Unfortunately, the CNA's who act like this are also the people who have the least class. They project a bad image on nursing.

I have much respect for the CNA's who acknowledge their title and own it. It takes the whole nursing team to be successful.

18 months to become an LPN?? Seems a bit excessive. Longest one I knew of was 12 months, because they allowed breaks. Only ones in my area are 10 months long.

Honestly, at 18 months, I'd have to think most would just go the extra year or so in an RN program!

Well, the 18 months is done during regular school semesters, so I gues if you take out the "breaks" it is closer to 13-14 months. The RN program takes much longer, because you have to complete pre-reqs first and THEN you will probably be on a waiting list. If I do LPN, then bridge to RN, I'll be done sooner than if I took the straight RN route.

The instructors around here say most people take 3-4 years to finish the ADN program if they go the straight to RN route.

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