Nursing Imposters

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 31, 2013

When I worked in Boston, there was a guy posing as a doctor and doing GYN exams on young female patients. That was just creepy!

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Dec 31, 2013

And there are the ones who claim try are "nurses" when they are not one... :whistling:

Irish_Mist, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2013

Wow! That is creepy! What a pervert. I can't imagine how violated the patients must have felt if they found out he wasn't a doctor.

Irish_Mist, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2013

And there are the ones who claim try are "nurses" when they are not one...

Haha yeah. I'm friends with a girl on facebook who is a medical assistant. She'll regularly post things like: "Looks like I'm the only nurse in the office today." She also posts "you know you're a nurse when...." type memes. Very irritating. I never say anything because I don't want to start an argument. We all know how so very sensitive people can be :facepalm: .

I have just three prerequisites left before I apply to nursing school. I have researched the profession and have the utmost respect for nursing. With that said, it lights my fire when people call themselves nurses who aren't. Not only is that illegal but you also didn't put in the work to use the title.

On a final note, I've learned a lot from all of you on here and am so grateful a site like this exists. :laugh:

All4NursingRN · Dec 31, 2013

It's not surprising, I work with one now, but she's very co-vert about it.

So I currently work with an nurse assistant in small research university clinic who comes across as very professional, well spoken, and etc.. She never wears her ID, always keeps her lab coat on and never formally introduces herself as an NA, plus she will walk the patient through what the clinic visit entails and etc as if she is the nurse. She always tries to appear more educated than she is by her manner of speech and vocabulary. Alot of people we work with in other departments don't know her true job title, and alot of patients believe she is either a nurse or doctor and she does not correct people when they call her nurse. The problem is she is very good at her job and has been there for years even when there was no nurse to oversee things, so that's why I believe the facility will not and has not disciplined her, she's doing everything they ask and more, so they don't care if she's misrepresenting herself. According to the only other NA that works there she said that in the past she has even told people she was an LPN but like I said there was no nurse presence because no-one wanted the job so the NA's were running things, everything got done, and no-one got hurt so everyone (RN supervisor, etc... turned a blind eye) Too bad the other NA did not know at the time that she could report her to someone, she was too fearful.

This NA is very crafty though. Now that there are nurses in the clinic she will not do or say anything out of her scope as an NA, but as soon as we all leave (RN turnover is ridiculously high at this place) she will re-vert back to ''passing'' as something she is not. The sad part is she has some of the older scientists/MD's that call her nurse and don't care what her title is as long as she keeps up her excellent work on their research studies. The really sad part is that's only the tip of the iceberg in terms of problems at this facility.

DoeRN · Dec 31, 2013

This happens quite a bit. It's sad but it's a reality. When I tell people what I do for a living I say RN instead of nurse.

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That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Dec 31, 2013

And there are the ones who claim try are "nurses" when they are not one...

People always say they are nurses in the ER. If I have a spare second, I will pull up our registry and find out 9/10 times they are an aide. I like to know where I stand with my patients so I can tailor education to your level, but dont say you are something you clearly are not.

Alnitak7 · Dec 31, 2013

I think an aide would have to be doing something that is an LPN procedure with no nursing order and when it is not legal in their state to get in real trouble. Laws vary from state to state.

I worked in a nursing home where charge nurses called the aides nurses if they were talking to a patient.

Confused patients might call an aide a nurse and if you correct them they will just forget.

Emergent, RN · Dec 31, 2013

One thing I like about my hospital is that they go to great lengths to distinguish the RNs. We wear enormous RN badges, and we have distinguishing uniforms. At my previous hospital when they decided to go to mandatory uniforms, they decided to have a different color for different units, but the CNAs and nurses wore the same. Where I work now, the nurses all wear one color, and the techs a different one. Plus the oversize badges.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Dec 31, 2013

I think an aide would have to be doing something that is an LPN procedure with no nursing order and when it is not legal in their state to get in real trouble. Laws vary from state to state.
I worked in a nursing home where charge nurses called the aides nurses if they were talking to a patient.
Confused patients might call an aide a nurse and if you correct them they will just forget.

It is ILLEGAL to represent oneself as a nurse if one is not. It is a protected title.

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Dec 31, 2013

There are some who will declare "I am a NURSE assistant" as oppossed to "I am a NURSE'S assistant". This is where some of the confusion lies--patient's just hear "nurse" and assume that people are nurses.

People who out and out pretend they are RN's or LPN's is scary!!