Nursing Imposters

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 31, 2013

I'm an aide. I have tried again and again to correct patients when they call me "nurse" but most either forget or don't know the difference. I even had one patient who tried to tell me that RN and BSN are two different things, even though I'm in a BSN program.

RN and BSN ARE two different things. You can graduate from a nursing program with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, but unless you pass the NCLEX, you are not an RN. So, you can be a BSN but NOT be an RN.

You can graduate with an ADN, pass the NCLEX and be an RN. So you can be an RN but not be a BSN.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2013

I've not known anyone personally, but remember a news story from a couple yrs back where a teenage kid was impersonating a PA in the hospital. My first thought was A&P knowledge aside...HOW in the wide world does someone manage to get past HR, management, the medical hierarchy, etc. without being an actual employee. At least it seems when I get hired somewhere there's a lot of hoops to jump through even just to get my badge.

The school nurse story is scary. Especially given all that access to adderall. Could she have been non-practicing impaired? :woot: Maybe it's wrong of me to jump to that conclusion...maybe she just really really wanted to be near her kids all day... but couldn't she homeschool like normal people who want all that time w/ the kids? Why involve everyone else's kids, some of whom have real health issues and need that real live registered school nurse. :no:

I do have a story that is just incredibly maddening as a real, live, REGISTERED nurse (sub "LICENSED PRACTICAL" in there, IMO would still be maddening.) Because RNs are nurses...LPNs are nurses...medical assistants are not nurses. This pediatrician that my kids used to see would say at the end of the checkup, "The nurses will be in shortly with their shots." I was like, "Nurses? You mean 'medical assistants,' correct? Because your nurses do telephone triage and advice; your medical assistants assist during the appointments." ` :cautious:

morte, LPN, LVN · Dec 31, 2013

darn Ruby! you beat me.

RN and BSN ARE two different things. You can graduate from a nursing program with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, but unless you pass the NCLEX, you are not an RN. So, you can be a BSN but NOT be an RN.
You can graduate with an ADN, pass the NCLEX and be an RN. So you can be an RN but not be a BSN.

Irish_Mist, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2013

I misread her quote. For some reason, I took that as her patient telling her she can't be an RN with the BSN degree. Ooops!

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Dec 31, 2013

Gotta love it when peoeple talk out of their hineys. People who don't know what they're talking about should just refrain from speaking on certain topics. When I informed a co-worker my desire to be an RN and informed him helping people was my goal, he told me to become a doctor because it is doctors who help people, not nurses. I guess you can't fix stupid!
Was your patient an older person? I work part time as a caregiver in addition to my full time job. I have a client that just INSISTS that nurse practicioners are inferior to PAs and that nurses with ADNs CANNOT perform the same job functions as nurses with a BSN. This is the type of person that correcting her does no good. Just nod your head. I've attempted to explain, but she is the type of person who knows everything and is never, ever wrong.
Such is life!

Yeah, he was an older gentlemen. I tried telling him that one can be an RN with a BSN or an ADN, but he didn't seem to understand. :/

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Dec 31, 2013

RN and BSN ARE two different things. You can graduate from a nursing program with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, but unless you pass the NCLEX, you are not an RN. So, you can be a BSN but NOT be an RN.
You can graduate with an ADN, pass the NCLEX and be an RN. So you can be an RN but not be a BSN.

You misinterpreted my post. He acted as though BSNs were NOT RNs, and I was informing him otherwise (he kept saying RN or BSN as if they are mutually exclusive...they aren't). BSNs ARE RNs with four-year degrees. In other words, I was informing him that one could be an RN with either a two year degree or a four year degree, but he didn't seem to get it.

I hate it when people say they are getting their "RN." No, you are getting your degree to become an RN, there is a difference. Registered Nurse is a title, NOT a degree.

And yes, you need to pass the NCLEX to be an RN. No duh. But there are different avenues one can take. ADN does not exclusively equate to RN, so asking if I'm getting an "RN or BSN" or "ADN or RN" is redundant as both degrees lead to "RN."

I would think someone with your experience would understand my post, but I guess not. :/

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Dec 31, 2013

I misread her quote. For some reason, I took that as her patient telling her she can't be an RN with the BSN degree. Ooops!

You are corrected. Ruby Vee was the one to misconstrue the post, NOT you. The guy was acting as though RN and BSN were mutually exclusive titles and that one can't be both. I kept telling the guy that a person can have a two year or a four year degree and still be a registered nurse.

applewhitern, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2013

We do not have an "infection control nurse." We have an "infection control officer," who is not a nurse. Aside from just non-nurses claiming to be nurses, what really gripes me is when someone does not correct the patient who thinks they are "the doctor." We have a lot of older patients who seem to think the males are doctors, and the females are nurses. Sometimes a patient will call the female doctor "nurse."

OCNRN63, RN · Dec 31, 2013

Well,here I go again,but this particular case is a gray area.There are some nurses I know who were nurses in Asia,but haven't got their licenses yet. Some haven't passed the Nclex just yet,but are working as nurse aides. Can't they still be called nurses?I mean,I do feel it would be disrespectful to correct them,because they really are nurses,just not in the Usa yet. They have been nurses for 20+ years at that. I love them and they are great,and they have helped me out at one time or another(even though they weren't licensed yet)

They may have been nurses in Asia, but they aren't nurses here. Once they pass NCLEX, then they can be called nurses.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 31, 2013

You misinterpreted my post. He acted as though BSNs were NOT RNs, and I was informing him otherwise (he kept saying RN or BSN as if they are mutually exclusive...they aren't). BSNs ARE RNs with four-year degrees. In other words, I was informing him that one could be an RN with either a two year degree or a four year degree, but he didn't seem to get it.
I hate it when people say they are getting their "RN." No, you are getting your degree to become an RN, there is a difference. Registered Nurse is a title, NOT a degree.
And yes, you need to pass the NCLEX to be an RN. No duh. But there are different avenues one can take. ADN does not exclusively equate to RN, so asking if I'm getting an "RN or BSN" or "ADN or RN" is redundant as both degrees lead to "RN."
I would think someone with your experience would understand my post, but I guess not. :/

Whoa! Snarky much?

I did misinterpret your post -- I didn't think it was all that clear. Hence my pointing out that BSN's and RNs are not necessarily the same thing. My 35 years of experience in nursing hasn't helped me all that much in interpreting unclear writing. I wasn't the only one who didn't "get it".

But I will agree with you that I hate people saying they're "going to school for my RN." First, the "RN" isn't just hanging there with your name on it for you to grab it. And second, you are getting a degree to qualify you to take the licensing exam.

CrazyGoonRN · Dec 31, 2013

According to one of my former nursing instructors, there was a man who dressed and impersonated a physician within the last year. He went to a hospital (she would not tell us which one) and performed "exams" on female patients. When he was caught he was wearing a visitors id bage (so no pic or name on it). Since then all area hospitals are requiring all students to have a photo ID on their badge. So no more wearing a visitors ID bage at clinical.

MrChicagoRN, RN · Jan 1, 2014

I'm not talking about to work,but in conversations with new friends(if I were to move to Texas).I know most "laypeople" won't bother to look up my name in the Nj website.Some states make it hard to look up a nurse by name alone.I did notice while working in NC employers didn't require us to show our licenses.Most just said they would look it up online,as if that's foolproof.I think its better to present an ACTUAL license,and then the employer would still have to look it up.That's how employers in my home state would do it.You had better have that license the day you fill out the application or come in for an interview.

TJC allows primary online verification of licensure. Saves wasting time accepting a forged paper license and then finding out its false.Also, you may call yourself a nurse wherever you go if you hold that licensed title. You could run into problems using the title professionally outside your state.For example I can have a conversation out of state and tell them I'm an RN. What I can't do is take a job as an unlicensed administrator, and tell someone I'm also a nurse.